


just my soul responding to you.

by pyroallerdyce



Series: a dyad in the force (aka all my ben/rey fics) [184]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Actors, Alternate Universe - America, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Modern: No Powers, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Developing Relationship, F/M, Filming, Nebraska, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pre-Relationship, Relationship(s), Romantic Soulmates, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Waiters & Waitresses
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-19
Updated: 2020-06-30
Packaged: 2021-02-27 23:07:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 36,949
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22793743
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pyroallerdyce/pseuds/pyroallerdyce
Summary: Everyone prayed for their soulmark to be red.  Soulmarks appeared on your twenty-third birthday, and once both you and your soulmate were twenty-three, the mark would either turn to the red of eternal love or the blue of eternal friendship.  So, everyone prayed for their soulmark to be red.  Everyone wanted eternal love.Ben Solo would settle for his just turning any color.or:  Ben Solo lives in a small town, works at his family's café, and has been waiting for his soulmark to turn color for ten years.  Rey Palpatine is a superstar actress, has a very difficult relationship with her grandfather, and woke up on her twenty-third birthday to find her soulmark was red.  When Rey's job brings her to Ben's small town, the two cross paths and discover fate and destiny had decided they were the other half of each other's souls.(updates on Wednesdays usually, but not every week.)
Relationships: Minor or Background Relationship(s), Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Series: a dyad in the force (aka all my ben/rey fics) [184]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1601755
Comments: 80
Kudos: 218





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> hi awesome nerds. I only have like six billion things that I'm writing at the moment, so hey, what's one more. No, seriously, I sort of have this soulmark concept that I love, and I'm using it in an X-Men series that I've got going, and I was sitting here last night and thinking about how I could make it work for Ben and Rey too. And thus, this story was born. It's probably going to be long, so I'm warning you about that right now, and it's not going to be updated every day, but probably every Wednesday or Friday, depending on what day I settle on for the day I work on it. (I've got so much going on right now that I need to schedule specific days to work on specific things. It's kind of a lot.) 
> 
> I would like to point out that I live in North Platte, Nebraska, the small town featured in this story, and therefore the descriptions of the town are pretty apt, at least from this Denverite-turned-Nebraskan's point of view.
> 
> And as always, if you like what you read here, please let me know via a comment or kudos or bookmark so that I know I'm not writing into a void. Enjoy!

Everyone prayed for their soulmark to be red. Soulmarks appeared on your twenty-third birthday, and once both you and your soulmate were twenty-three, the mark would either turn to the red of eternal love or the blue of eternal friendship. So, everyone prayed for their soulmark to be red. Everyone wanted eternal love.

Ben Solo would settle for his just turning any color.

He'd turned twenty-three a decade ago, and the soulmark on his arm was still nothing more than a pale pink etching in his skin. The arrow was pretty elaborate from what he could tell, and he could not wait to see it the way that nature had intended. But for that to happen, it needed to be filled by color, and that seemed increasingly unlikely.

And then one Thursday morning in the middle of July, Ben woke up, looked at his arm, and found that the pale pink etching had turned red.

Finally. All he could think was finally.

When he dressed for the day, he made sure he wore one of the short-sleeved shirts that he never liked to wear. He had gotten sick of having to show off his soulmark and hearing the pity of everyone that saw it hadn't turned color yet, so he'd started wearing long-sleeved shirts everyday. But now, now he could wear short-sleeved shirts again. Everyone at the café was going to want to see it. It felt like the whole town had been waiting with more anticipation for this day than Ben had, but no one was going to be happier about this than he was.

Skywalker Café was the family's business, started back in the sixties by his grandparents, and everyone in the family had something to do with it. Anakin and Padmé were still the owners, but they didn't involve themselves in the daily operation anymore. His uncle Luke was in charge of inventory while his mother Leia was in charge of the financial side of things. His father Han was the only one who didn't work there, owning the hardware store across the street instead. 

As for Ben, he was the general manager, so he kept things running. It was a pretty strenuous job on some days, but it kept him from concentrating on the fact that he was alone.

But now, maybe he wouldn't be.

He got to the café and accepted congratulations from his employees when they saw his arm. Customers started coming in for breakfast, and Ben received congratulations from them as well. Besides the soulmark on his arm being red, it was a typical start to his day.

Leia arrived around lunch and squealed when she saw that his soulmark had turned red. “Oh, I'm so happy for you!”

Ben smiled as Leia pulled him into a hug. “Thanks, Mama. Now to find her.”

“I hope that doesn't take long. You've been alone for long enough,” Leia said, pulling back and grabbing his arm. “This is so beautiful, colored in like that. Just like I knew it would be.”

“Yeah, it really is gorgeous,” Ben said, smiling. “I can't wait to show everyone else.”

“They'll all be thrilled for you,” Leia said. “Now, have you heard the exciting news? They just announced it so I wasn't sure if it had made it to the conversation here yet.”

“I have no idea what you're talking about.”

Leia grinned. “It was just announced that there is going to be a new Maz Kanata directed film.”

“I don't see why this is news I needed to hear.”

“The film is set in a small midwestern town, and they have chosen to film it here.”

Ben's eyes widened. “What?”

“I know, right?” Leia practically bounced with excitement. “We might get to meet Rey Palpatine and Poe Dameron! It's so amazing.”

“Rey Palpatine and Poe Dameron?” Ben asked.

“They're the stars of the film,” Leia said, her tone letting Ben know that he should have known that. “And they're going to be here for weeks. It's exciting.”

Ben knew that his mother was a big movie buff, but he didn't understand her excitement over this. “So what? We'll probably never see them.”

Leia sighed heavily. “Someday, Ben, you are going to find something that excites you the way this excites me, and I look forward to it. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to get some work done. Your father is taking me out for dinner tonight.”

Ben watched her walk into the back before he could say a thing, and he shook his head. So they were going to film some movie there. He really didn't see how that was going to impact his life.

Still, he'd keep up with the news, if only to be able to make small talk with everyone who came into the café.

**********

The moment Rey Palpatine found out that they would be filming in a small town in Nebraska, she got excited. She needed a break from the California grind and spending the next eight weeks in this small town named North Platte sounded like exactly what she needed. She found out what hotel she was staying in, grabbed her laptop and did some research, and by the time she was getting on the plane, she had a list of places that she wanted to visit.

The private plane landed at the small airport and Rey disembarked, and once she was inside, she looked around with a smile. This place was exactly what she needed. 

“Ms. Palpatine,” came a voice, and Rey looked to her left to see Rose Tico coming towards her with a smile. “Welcome to Nebraska.”

“Rose, how many times must I ask you to call me Rey?” she asked. “Ms. Palpatine makes me feel like I'm in a boardroom trying to be convinced to take a part by my grandfather.”

“I'm your assistant. I'm just trying to be professional.”

“You can call me Rey and still be professional, I promise,” Rey said, looking around. “So, where do we start?”

“Let's head to the hotel and get you checked in, and then we'll see if you want to go somewhere or rest.”

“Sounds good.”

Rey followed Rose to a car where her suitcases were already being loaded into the trunk. She looked out the window as they drove away, smiling when the town came into view. She took in the different businesses as they drove past, and before Rey knew it, they were pulling into a hotel parking lot. “This really is a small town, isn't it?”

“Population is around twenty-five thousand, from what I understand,” Rose said as the car came to a stop. “Let's get you settled in your room.”

Rey followed Rose into the hotel and let her talk with the starstruck man behind the counter, signing her name on the line when the paperwork was placed in front of her. She took the room key from him with a smile and then they were headed to the top floor of the hotel. The suite was modest compared to what she was used to, but she didn't mind. She was looking forward to a more laid back experience while she was there. 

Rose was smiling nervously when Rey was done looking around the rooms. “Is this room okay? I'm not sure they have anything grander.”

“I don't need something grander,” Rey said, laughing. “This is perfectly fine, Rose. Absolutely fine.”

“Would you like me to leave you alone then? Or are you interested in exploring the town a little?”

Rey was hungrier than she was tired, so she reached into her bag and pulled out her list of places she wanted to go. She looked through it for a moment before a name caught her eye, and she looked over at Rose with a smile. “I want to go to Skywalker Café.”

Rose nodded. “Then I will arrange for things. I'll let you know when we're ready to leave.”

**********

The café was pretty empty at the moment, typical for the post-lunch but pre-dinner hours, and Ben was concentrating on the new menu designs that they really needed to implement soon. The new additions to the menu needed to actually be on the menu, not just on a big whiteboard near the door that hardly anyone read anyway. He was just about to turn and walk into the back to get something when the door opened, and he turned to greet whoever it was. Instead of speaking, the papers in his hand fell to the floor, and he bit his tongue hard not to say something incredibly stupid.

“Welcome to Skywalker,” he finally said. “Please, sit wherever you like. I'll be over with menus in a moment.”

“Thank you,” Rey said, looking around the room until she spotted a table near the window. “Let's sit over here, Rose.”

As they walked over to the table, Ben bent to pick up the papers that he had dropped, silently telling himself that it didn't matter that Rey Palpatine had just walked into the café. She was just another customer and she needed to receive the same treatment as everyone else.

Which absolutely meant that Hux could not be waiting her table.

Ben took a deep breath and walked into the back, finding Hux leaning up against the counter and talking to Phasma. “Hux, how about you take your lunch break now?”

Hux gave him a confused look. “I don't usually do that until right before the dinner rush starts, Ben.”

“I know, but I really don't want you to take the table that's out there right now, and so I'm telling you to take your break.” 

“Oooh, who is it?” Hux said, grinning like an idiot. “That cute girl that flirts with you every time you go to Walmart, hoping that she's your soulmate?”

“No,” Ben said seriously. “But I am not going to let you offend a Hollywood star on her first visit into the café.”

Phasma's eyes widened. “Are you telling me that Rey Palpatine is in the café?”

“Yes, I am, and neither of you is going anywhere near her table or I'll fire you both,” Ben said, snatching the order book out of Hux's hands. “And that's an order.”

Ben walked back into the front, grabbing a couple of menus and heading over to the table. “I am sorry about the wait. It won't happen again.”

“It's alright,” Rey said, smiling up at him. He was absolutely gorgeous.

“I'm Ben,” he said. “What can I get you to drink?”

Rey looked down at the menu for a moment before smiling. “I'll take a strawberry lemonade.”

“You can just bring me water,” Rose said, and Ben nodded.

“Those will be right out.”

Rey turned her attention to the menu as Ben walked away, and Rose lightly kicked her. “That man is gorgeous.”

“Is there a reason you're pointing that out?” Rey asked, not looking up from her menu. 

“Rey, you've got your soulmark now. That means you need to start looking everywhere for your soulmate. Any man that is brought into your path could be him.”

Rey put her menu down at that. “And you think that my soulmate could be a waiter in a café in this small town?”

“Your soulmate could be absolutely anyone,” Rose pointed out. “Just look at me and Finn.”

There was a smile on Rose's face that Rey envied so, so much, but she knew that there was someone out there waiting for her that would put a smile like that on her face. She just didn't think it would be anyone in this town. She was here for work and nothing else, no matter how much she was looking forward to spending time here.

“Alright, so your soulmate happens to be a very successful producer that you met because he produced one of my films,” Rey said. “That does not mean anything.”

“It means a lot,” Rose countered. “I was just some lowly assistant. I never would have been on a guy like him's radar. But fate said we were the other half of each other's soul, and we were drawn to each other because of that. I'm not trying to say that our waiter is that guy. I'm just trying to say that you can't completely rule that out.”

Rey looked over to see Ben approaching the table with drinks and shook her head. “That is the end of this discussion.”

Rose knew better than to argue with her, and she smiled up at Ben when he set her water down in front of her. “Thank you.”

“Yes, thank you,” Rey added as her lemonade was set in front of her. “This is a lovely place.”

“It's the family business,” Ben explained. “My grandparents started it, my mother and uncle work on things for it, and I'm the one that runs it daily. It's our pride and joy, basically.”

“That sounds wonderful,” Rey said, turning her attention back to her menu. “I would kill to have a family like that.”

Ben was immediately confused but Rose was shaking her head at him, so he didn't ask any questions. “Do you know what you want to order?”

Rey chose a sandwich that had caught her eye and Rose ordered a salad. Ben said that their orders would be up soon and walked away, and Rey took a deep breath. “I shouldn't have said that to him.”

“It's alright,” Rose said softly. “He didn't ask anything.”

“Doesn't matter. I can't go around letting the world know that I hate my grandfather. I'd never work again.”

“Just because your grandfather is head of the biggest studio in Hollywood, that does not mean that you'd never work again.”

“A few choice words from him to the right people and my career is over,” Rey said seriously. “I know that, he knows that I know that, and trust me when I say he holds that over my head to get me to do the projects he wants me to do. The only reason I work with Empire Studios so much is because of him. He is not at all happy about me doing this film, but since Maz is such a respected director, he said he'd allow me to do it this once. Like I have to ask fucking permission to do a film at a different studio. I motherfucking hate it so much.”

Rose's eyes were wide by the time that Rey was finished. “He really threatens you with that?”

“All the fucking time,” Rey said, reaching for her lemonade. “It drives me insane.”

She took a long sip of the lemonade and then smiled. “This is amazing lemonade.”

“Yeah? I know you love lemonade.”

Rey nodded and had another sip. “This might be the best strawberry lemonade I've ever had.”

Rose laughed. “It's been a while since I've heard you say something like that.”

“It's the truth,” Rey said seriously. “Nowhere in Los Angeles makes a decent strawberry lemonade. The ones that have potential always have vodka in them, and while that is nice on some days, it's not nice when I just want a nice, cold strawberry lemonade. And this, Rose? This is perfection in a glass.”

“Then you'll have to tell Ben that,” Rose said, and Rey nodded. 

“Yes, I will. And we will be coming back a lot while we're here so that I can have this. I can already tell that I'm going to miss it once I'm gone.”

Rose laughed again. “I think you're taking this a little too seriously, Rey.”

“No, I'm definitely not. Now tell me more about where we're filming first. I heard something about a park that also has some animals in it sort of like a zoo.”

Rose explained the first few days worth of shooting in Cody Park, and Rey found herself wondering what exactly this park was like. She told Rose that she wanted to go there when they were done at the café and Rose said she could make that happen. While Rose was on the phone, Rey looked over at where Ben was behind the cash register, looking intently at the papers in his hands.

He really was absolutely, incredibly, overwhelmingly gorgeous.

There was no problem with her having thoughts like that, she concluded. It was acting on those thoughts that would be a problem. The last thing she needed was some guy in this small town selling his story of their brief time together to one of the major tabloids. She was still dealing with the fallout from her last relationship. She didn't need that added in on top of it.

Ben brought their food to them just as Rose was getting off the phone, and as they ate, Rey became more convinced that she was going to frequent the café a lot while she was there. The sandwich was amazing, Rose said her salad was excellent as well, and that coupled with the strawberry lemonade made Rey feel like she'd found the kind of place she'd been searching for in Los Angeles since she arrived there as a wide-eyed fifteen-year-old from London. 

But it was in Nebraska and not Los Angeles, and that meant she was going to enjoy it while she could since after this film shoot was over, she'd never get it again. 

When it was time to leave, Rey took the bill up to the cash register while Rose got the car ready for them outside, and Ben smiled at her. “I hope everything was to your liking, Ms. Palpatine.”

“So you do know who I am,” Rey said, smiling. “I wasn't sure since you didn't really react.”

“No, I know who you are. I just am not the biggest movie guy in the world. My mother would have freaked out on you though.”

Rey peered at him curiously. “You don't like movies?”

“It's not that,” Ben said seriously, accepting a credit card from her. “It's that I have zero time to actually go see a movie when it's in theaters, I don't really have much time to watch them at home either, and by the time I do, they've usually been so hyped up for me that they are disappointments. No one else in my family likes the films that I do, and there's no soulmate around, so I have no one to do any of it with, and that kind of sours me to the process anyway. I am looking forward to seeing this one you're filming here though. I can't believe that anyone would want to set anything in this town.”

“I think the town is charming, from what I've seen of it so far,” Rey said, reaching for a pen when Ben laid a receipt in front of her. “And I can understand your situation when it comes to movies. I'm usually scrambling to see the important ones I've missed at the end of the year since I have to vote for them for various awards things.”

“Yeah, I suppose you would have to do that,” Ben said. “Do you want a receipt of your own?”

“Please,” Rey said, sliding the one she'd signed across the counter at him. “So you haven't found your soulmate yet?”

“My soulmark only recently turned red,” Ben explained. “I'd been waiting a decade for it to happen. I was starting to think that it never would.”

“A decade? That sounds torturous. I woke up on my birthday to find mine was already red.” Rey held up her arm to show off the intricate design that circled her left wrist. “It's quite beautiful, I think.”

“It is,” Ben said, holding up his arm. “I'm quite pleased with mine.”

Rey took in the arrow and smiled. “That is gorgeous.”

“Everyone tells me that. Now to find the one that it's matched to.”

“Rey?” came Rose's voice. “We're ready to leave if you are.”

Rey nodded and took the receipt from Ben. “I really enjoyed the food and the atmosphere, Ben. I will be back.”

Ben smiled at her. “I look forward to that, Ms. Palpatine.”

“Rey,” she said. “Please call me Rey.”

“Then I will do so, Rey.”

Rey smiled at him before walking towards the door, settling into the backseat with Rose before looking back at the café. “I think we're going back there for breakfast tomorrow.”

Rose just gave her a knowing smile. “I can arrange for that.”

Ben watched through the window as the car pulled away, taking a deep breath once it was gone. The conversation had been nice, but she was a Hollywood actress that was here for a short time, and she had a soulmate of her own to find. He should not be feeling so good about one conversation.

He couldn't help but think that it was an amazing one though. 

Ben sighed when he heard his mother call out from the back and he headed in her direction. Better to tell her that Rey Palpatine had been in the café sooner rather than later so that if they happened to be there at the same time, Leia didn't make a complete fool of herself.

Or of him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so I decided that Wednesdays are going to be the designated update day, and since this is a Wednesday, here, have an update. This will be the last update until next Wednesday though.

A hush fell over the café when the door opened, and Ben looked over to see Rey walking in with the woman that had been with her yesterday, another man, and Poe Dameron. Sighing heavily, he walked over to them before Hux or Phasma could get there, and he smiled at them. “Rey. Wonderful to see you again so soon.”

“What can I say? Your breakfast came highly recommended,” Rey said, and Rose let out a small cough, causing Rey to glare at her. “Is there room for us? It looks really busy.”

“There's room,” Ben said, grabbing four menus. “Follow me.”

He led them to a table in the back and waited until they were all seated before handing out the menus. “I apologize in advance for whatever it is Hux says to you. He's not exactly known for being courteous.”

Rey just smiled at him. “I'm sure it'll be fine.”

“Then I'll send him over.”

Ben walked away and Rey picked up her menu, glaring across the table when Rose kicked her. “Would you please not do that?”

“Would you please admit that you're attracted to him then?” Rose said firmly. “You haven't talked to a soul about how breakfast here is and you know it. You just wanted to come back here to see Ben.”

“Is that his name?” Finn asked from next to Rose. “He didn't say.”

“Yes, that's his name, and no, I'm not attracted to him,” Rey said sharply, looking at the menu. “Leave me alone.”

“You've got to start looking for your soulmate,” Poe said, picking up his menu. “It could literally be anyone. It could be him.”

“You're being ridiculous.”

“No, I'm being serious,” Poe said strongly. “I met Zorii when she was checking my groceries. You never know where you are going to meet your soulmate. You have to be open to it.”

Rey looked over at him. “Checking your groceries?”

“It was her job while she was finishing school,” Poe said, nodding. “She doesn't do it anymore because she graduated and is a lawyer now.”

Rey sighed heavily. “Fine, I will start believing that my soulmate could be anywhere. But that does not mean I'm going to do something stupid in the meantime. The last thing I need is him selling his story to some magazine once we've left. I've got enough problems without that happening.”

Rose just shook her head. “Not everyone is like that, Rey.”

“Yeah, well, I seem to attract the ones who are,” Rey muttered as a man approached the table.

“Welcome to Skywalker,” he droned. “I'm Hux, you all are people who are important, and let's just get this over with. Drinks?”

Rey rolled her eyes. “I'd like a strawberry lemonade please.”

“With breakfast?” Hux asked, staring at her like she was insane.

“Yes, with breakfast,” Rey said, and Hux sighed before reaching for his order book.

“Alright, the weird actress wants a strawberry lemonade. Anyone else?”

Poe, Rose, and Finn all gave him their drink orders and then Hux walked away, leaving Rey chuckling. “I think Ben was right about him not being very courteous.”

“Obnoxious is more like it,” Finn said. “How dare he speak to you like that? Questioning what you want to drink, calling you weird for it.”

“Finn, it's fine,” Rey said, turning her attention back to the menu. “He's far from the first server to think I'm weird because I like lemonade with breakfast.”

“This is a recurring thing?” Poe asked. “Not just a reaction to you apparently having the best strawberry lemonade in the history of the world yesterday?”

“She has lemonade everywhere,” Rose said before Rey could speak. “It's her weakness.”

Rey laughed. “That might just be the truth. Now, what are you thinking of ordering?”

They talked about things on the menu until Hux brought back their drinks, and once he'd gotten their orders, he shook his head as he collected the menus. “Strawberry lemonade with chocolate chip pancakes. You are one strange, strange lady. I don't give a fuck who you are.”

He turned around and left before Rey could respond, and Ben was back at the table a few moments later. “Please tell me that he's been nice because he's not always nice.”

“I wouldn't call that nice,” Finn started, but Rey just shook her head. 

“He thinks the fact that I want strawberry lemonade and chocolate chip pancakes is weird but other than that, he's fine.”

“He said he doesn't give a fuck who you are. Exact words,” Rose pointed out.

“He said that?” Ben asked, sighing. “I'm sorry for him cursing at you. I'll make sure that doesn't happen again.”

“As I said, it's fine, Ben,” Rey said, reaching for her strawberry lemonade. “I might have to beg you for the recipe for this lemonade before I leave town. It's amazing.”

Ben smiled at her. “That is my grandmother's recipe and it is a closely guarded secret. You'd have to get it out of her because I certainly am not giving it out.”

“I'll keep that in mind,” Rey said, smiling back. 

Poe coughed and reached for his orange juice. “Excuse me. I keep coughing this morning.”

Rey didn't believe that for a second, but she didn't say anything. Ben just nodded. “I need to get back to work, but if you need anything, just flag me down, okay? I'd tell you to flag down Hux, but that's kind of a lost cause.”

“We will do so,” Rose said, and Ben walked away.

He went into the kitchen and found Hux talking to Phasma, and he grabbed onto his elbow and dragged him into the office. “Would you like to explain to me why it is you swore at a table full of Hollywood celebrities, please?”

“The woman is clearly insane and I was just pointing that out,” Hux said, rolling his eyes. “It's not a big deal.”

“It is when we're trying to impress important people and get them to come back into the café,” Ben stressed. “I want them to keep coming in here while they're in town, and if you're swearing at them every time you wait their table, then they're not going to do that. Do you understand what I'm saying?”

“I honestly don't know why you're caring about what these people think, Ben. They're going to be gone soon enough.”

“That doesn't mean we treat them like shit while they're here,” Ben said firmly. “You are to apologize for swearing at them the next time you are over there or you're looking for another job.”

Hux stared at him in shock. “You'd fire me over this?”

“Yes,” Ben said honestly. “You're not that valuable to me.”

“I'm one of your best friends!”

“That doesn't mean a thing to me when you're swearing at my customers.”

Hux huffed. “Fine. I'll apologize. That doesn't change the fact that she's out of her mind.”

“I don't care what you think so long as you keep that opinion to yourself,” Ben said, walking out of the office. 

He settled himself behind the cash register and made small talk with the people coming in and going out of the café. When there was a break in between people, he found his gaze falling on the table in the back where Rey was sitting. She had her hair up in three buns and he assumed that was just a temporary style before she got on set. It suited her though, and he wondered if she had her hair like that often. 

Then he stopped that train of thought because there was no reason for him to be wondering things like that. She was here, she was going to leave, and it did not matter that she might be the sexiest woman Ben had ever seen. It really didn't.

He watched as Hux brought out their food, caught his eye on his way back to the kitchen, and breathed a sigh of relief when Hux rolled his eyes but nodded. Things got busy after that, the most popular part of the breakfast hours kicking in, and Ben lost himself in work until he looked up and saw that Rey was standing there ready to pay the bill. “Rey. I hope that things were okay.”

“Things were great,” Rey said, handing over the bill and a credit card. “Hux even apologized to me.”

“Good because I would have fired him if he hadn't,” Ben said, turning his attention to the cash register. “How are you liking the town so far?”

“It's nice. There is definitely not a lot to do here though.”

“No, there's really not,” Ben said, running the credit card. “We are severely lacking in the activities area.”

“What do you usually do on your nights off?” Rey asked as she picked up a pen.

“Well, I'm either in Kelsey's getting drunk or I'm in the bowling alley, trying to bowl while I'm drunk. And that's about it.”

“You get drunk a lot?” Rey asked as Ben set a receipt in front of her.

“Not a lot, but sometimes it's just necessary,” Ben said, taking a deep breath. “The last decade has been pretty lonely.”

“I can only imagine,” Rey said, filling out the receipt and signing her name. “I hope it doesn't take me that long to find my soulmate, but knowing my luck, it will.”

“Yeah, well, I'm hoping that I find mine soon,” Ben murmured as he opened the cash register. “But if you want suggestions on things to do while you're here, just ask. There's not much but there is some enjoyable stuff.”

“I will do that,” Rey said, smiling at him. “I'll talk to you later, Ben.”

Ben watched as she walked out of the café before sighing heavily. He needed to stop thinking that these conversations were amazing. He needed to stop thinking about Rey at all. She was a Hollywood actress who would be leaving in no time.

And Ben? Ben was no one.

**********

Rey sat in the makeup chair and watched as the hairstylist worked her magic on her hair. She should be going through her lines for that day's scene. She should be thinking about the way she was going to approach it. She should be thinking about a million different things.

She should not be thinking about Ben.

But hearing Ben describe himself as lonely had really gotten to her for some reason. She wanted to do something about that. She wanted him not to be lonely anymore. But she couldn't make his soulmate materialize out of thin air, and she had no idea why she cared anyway. She'd seen him a grand total of two times. 

“You're not paying attention to me,” came a voice, and Rey blinked until the makeup artist came into view.

“I'm sorry, Kaydel. I'm just lost in my thoughts.”

“I could tell,” Kaydel said. “Close your eyes and start talking.”

“There's not a whole lot to say, really,” Rey said, closing her eyes. “I've just got this guy I met stuck in my head and I can't figure out why.”

“Is that so?” the hairstylist said, and Rey struggled to remember her name before it came to her. Harter Kalonia, that's right.

“Yes, Harter, that is so,” Rey said, feeling a soft brush against her eyelid. “It's ridiculous.”

“It's really not,” Harter said. “You need to keep in mind that you're looking for a soulmate now. You need to think about that when things like this happen.”

“What are you trying to say?” Rey asked. “Because this guy is not my soulmate.”

“You don't know that,” Kaydel said. “Not unless you've pressed down on his soulmark and felt nothing.”

Rey sighed heavily. “I am not about to press down on Ben's soulmark. No way.”

“Is his red?” Harter asked.

“Yes.”

“And does he have his soulmate already?”

“No.”

“Then you should consider pressing down on it, just to be sure,” Harter said, pinning part of Rey's hair on the top of her head. “Don't move.”

“Wouldn't dream of it,” Rey said. “And I am not pressing down on his soulmark.”

“You're being ridiculous,” Kaydel said, the brush moving to her other eyelid. “You should at least be considering these things. I mean, your soulmate really could literally be anyone you come across.”

“I know,” Rey said softly. “I am just trying to concentrate on this film. This is a big deal for my career.”

“You'll be brilliant in this,” Kaydel said. “You're one of the best actresses in the world. But I am being serious when I say that you need to be open to this soulmate thing. It could be him, it could be a member of the crew, it could be the guy behind the desk at the hotel. It could literally be anyone.”

Rey felt the brush move back to the other eyelid. “If I say that I will consider it, can we please change the subject?”

“That's fine, dear,” Harter said, curling up the bottom of Rey's hair. “Do you have everything you need for today memorized?”

“I think so.”

“Would you like us to run through it with you?” Kaydel asked. “Because we can call Beaumont over here and have him read Poe's lines if you want.”

Rey sat there for a moment before smiling. “Yeah, I think that would be a good idea.”

At least if she was concentrating on work, she wouldn't be thinking of Ben.

**********

Ben pushed the cart down the aisle, headed towards the part of the store with pain relievers. He had a killer headache and he knew that he had nothing at home for it, so he'd decided that coming to Walmart that night was a better idea than waiting until Sunday morning, if only to make the pain stop.

There were entirely too many people for his liking in there, but it was the fifteenth and so that meant a lot of people in town had been paid that day, so, therefore, everyone was in there getting things that they needed. He wanted to avoid the food section because of it, but there was hardly anything to eat in his house and he didn't want to eat at the café every day for the rest of his life, so he was going to have no choice but to brave it. 

There was a long line stretching out from the pharmacy when Ben got there, so he maneuvered the cart around the displays in the middle of the aisle and got around it. It took him a few minutes to find the right aisle, and then he was staring at box after box of pain relievers and wondering what the fuck to get. He picked up one box and read it only to put it back, then did the same with another. He stood there for so long that he was starting to get embarrassed, and he was just about to embarrass himself even more by calling Leia and asking her what he should buy when he heard his name. 

He turned to see Rey coming down the other side of the aisle and he swallowed hard. Now he was really embarrassed. “Rey.”

“I have no idea where anything is in this store,” Rey said as she walked up to him. “But you seem to have found the same thing I'm looking for.”

Ben looked back at the boxes before bringing his gaze back to Rey. “Pain relievers?”

“Yep,” Rey said, looking at the options. “My feet really hurt after wearing the shoes I had to wear on set all day. They got the most uncomfortable pair of heels in the history of the world, I think.”

“I don't know how you women walk in those,” Ben said, turning his eyes back to the boxes. “And I have no idea what I'm buying. I never buy stuff like this.”

“What are you buying it for then?”

“Because I have a killer headache and what we have at the café for it was gone. My mother is in charge of replacing things like that in the office, but she clearly hasn't done that yet. I can't remember the name that was on the bottle so I have no clue what to buy.”

“Killer headache, hm?” Rey said, looking around before reaching for a box. “This is the one I take when I get a killer headache.”

Ben took the box from her and looked at it, noticed it said it was for stress headaches, and determined that was exactly what he had. A stress headache. “This sounds good to me. Thanks for the help.”

Rey reached for a different box and smiled at him. “More than happy to help. Do you mind showing me where a few other things are?”

“Sure.”

And that was how Ben Solo, an absolute nobody, ended up walking around Walmart with Rey Palpatine, an internationally-known superstar actress. The conversation was light but fun, walking all over the store with her because she wanted things that were in opposite directions every time they got somewhere. Rey kept putting the things she was buying in Ben's cart since she didn't have one, and Ben grabbed a few things for himself while he was at it. 

When they reached the food aisles, Rey wanted to go up and down each one so she could find some good snacks for her hotel room, so Ben walked through them with her, pointing out things that he bought when he was hungry and grabbing some things for himself on Rey's suggestion. By the time they were walking through the freezer cases, Ben realized he was completely relaxed in Rey's presence, talking to her as though she was one of his best friends.

And Ben didn't really have friends, so he wasn't sure how that conversation was actually possible.

When they reached the checkouts, Ben pushed the cart to a self-checkout and began to unload his things onto the belt. “I can't say that I ever thought I'd be shopping at Walmart with Rey Palpatine, but that was quite enjoyable.”

Rey laughed. “Well, I never thought I'd be shopping in a Walmart in North Platte, Nebraska, so we're even.”

“It's really the only place to go for some things. There are hardly any stores in the mall anymore, all the other stores like this have closed, and yeah, there's Gary's for groceries, but it's easier to just come here and get everything most of the time.”

“Is there really that few stores in this town?” Rey asked as she began to put her things on the belt as well. 

“Yep,” Ben said. “If you want clothes, you're better off going to Kearney, which is about an hour east of here, or just shopping online. There's hardly anywhere to buy anything in this town.”

“That's sad,” Rey said after a moment. “I never really thought about the fact that there would be towns where it's hard to buy things like that.”

“Well, you live in Los Angeles, which has practically everything. I'm not surprised at that.”

Ben started to scan and bag his stuff as Rey walked closer to him. “Do you like living here?” she asked after a moment.

Ben sighed heavily. “I grew up here.”

“That's not what I asked you.”

“It's difficult to answer that,” Ben said eventually. “There's part of me that wishes I'd left fifteen years ago, and there's part of me that never wants to leave. Living here isn't bad. There's a lot of really great things about this town – the hospital system for one – but there's also a lot of things about here that just makes it feel like everyone is abandoning ship. There are certainly much better places in the world to live in.”

“I'd love to live in a place like this,” Rey said, smiling at him. “But I understand what you're saying. Or at least I think I do. I guess I'm just used to having everything I need within a short drive.”

“Well, I technically have everything I need within a short drive too. It's just a matter of whether or not it's stuff that I want.”

They finished bagging up their stuff and made their way out of the store. “Did you drive here?” Ben asked.

“No, I took an Uber,” Rey said. “I was glad to know there was one.”

“Someone is an Uber driver here?” Ben asked, surprised. “I had no idea that people were doing that. Though, with as many people in this town that go to bars on Friday and Saturday nights and get completely wasted, I imagine that you could make a lot of money as an Uber driver here.”

“I should get one called up for me,” Rey said, reaching for her phone. “We can just set my stuff on the ground or something.”

“Nonsense,” Ben said. “I'll drive you back to your hotel.”

“That would be really nice of you,” Rey said, smiling at him. 

“It's no problem,” Ben said, leading Rey to his car.

He got what hotel Rey was staying in out of her while they loaded their stuff in the car, and then Ben drove them to the hotel. He helped Rey get her stuff from the trunk once he was parked. “I can help you carry it up to your room if you want,” he offered.

“That's okay,” Rey said. “It's not that heavy. I can make it that far.”

Ben nodded. “Then it was nice to spend the evening with you, Rey.”

“It was really nice to spend the evening with you too, Ben,” Rey said. “How late is the café open?”

“The café is open until eleven.”

“Then I think I'll be going there after I get done filming tomorrow. I'll want some of that strawberry lemonade.”

“I'll make sure that plenty is waiting for you then.”

Ben and Rey stared at each other for a moment before Rey broke their gaze and looked down at her bags. “I really need to get this inside. I'll see you tomorrow night, okay?”

“I look forward to that.”

Ben watched as Rey walked into the hotel before getting back in his car. On the drive back to his house, he couldn't get Rey out of his mind. She was funny, clearly intelligent, and insanely gorgeous. 

But she had a soulmate out there somewhere. So did he. And none of this mattered anyway, because she would be leaving in a matter of weeks and not coming back.

He needed to get her off his mind.


	3. Chapter 3

Ben woke up to the sound of people talking loudly outside his window and he groaned. It was his day off, the only day off he was allowing himself to take in the next two weeks, and all he wanted to do was sleep in. He did not want to be dealing with his neighbors doing some sort of construction or whatever. 

Sighing heavily, he got up and got dressed, heading to the kitchen. He looked out of the window at the house next door, saw a bunch of scaffolding, and sighed again. He really didn't want to deal with this.

After a quick breakfast, Ben headed towards the door so he could go see what kind of construction his neighbors were up to, but before he could get there, there was a knock on the door. He opened it and found one of the men that had come into the café with Rey standing there. “Hello?”

“Hello,” the man said. “I'm Finn and I wanted to talk to you about what's going on next door. Has anyone spoken to you about this before?”

“No,” Ben said, shaking his head. “No one has said a thing to me.”

Finn nodded. “Well, we have rented the house next door from the owners so that we can use it to film.”

Ben sighed heavily. “You're filming next door.”

“Yes,” Finn said. “I hope that's not going to disrupt you too much.”

“I don't know about that,” Ben said. “I was planning on sleeping in today and I got woken up by people speaking loudly.”

“Then please accept my apologies. Someone was supposed to come to talk to you about this sometime last week.”

“Probably tried to but I've hardly been here for the past week,” Ben said. “Do you mind if I come outside and look at what you've got going on?”

“Not at all,” Finn said, walking down the sidewalk. 

Ben followed him and looked over at the house next door, his eyes scanning all the equipment that covered the lawn and the surrounding street. The street was blocked off in both directions, and Ben suddenly had a problem. “How am I supposed to get out of my driveway and leave?”

Finn noticed the equipment that was blocking Ben's driveway and sighed. “They weren't supposed to put that there until I'd talked to you. I'll get them to move that for now, but you're going to have to park somewhere else because that equipment really does need to be there.”

Ben realized that he had no choice but to go along with it because a nobody like him had absolutely no sway with a bunch of Hollywood people and so he nodded. “And the street is going to be blocked off like that too? So, I can't park my car in front of the house?”

“I am so sorry that no one was able to speak to you about this beforehand,” Finn apologized. “But yes, you're going to have to find somewhere else to park.”

“It's alright,” Ben said, thinking about where he could possibly park his car. “I'll just park at the high school or something.”

“Thank you. We can work out compensation for you at a later date if that's alright.” 

Ben looked over at Finn. “Compensation?”

“For displacing you like that.”

“Does that mean I can't stay at my house?”

“Oh, no,” Finn said, shaking his head. “You can stay at the house. There just might be times where you're asked to not come outside or not make any noise. Inconveniences will happen, I'm sure, and we will compensate you for them.”

“So long as I can stay in my house, I'll be fine,” Ben said, smiling when he saw Rey emerge from a trailer that had been parked across the street. “How long are you going to be filming here?”

“All the equipment will stay here until we're done with the shoot, so about seven or eight weeks from now, depending on how it all goes,” Finn explained. “I hope that won't put you out too much.”

Seven or eight weeks? Ben had no idea how he was going to cope with that. Perhaps by working at the café every single day of it. “No,” he said after a moment. “It'll be fine.”

“Finn!” called out someone and he turned to Ben with a smile. 

“I need to go now. I'll get someone to move that equipment so you can get your car out of the driveway and parked somewhere else.”

“Thank you,” Ben said as Finn walked away. 

Rey was standing there talking to some people and then she looked around, spotting Ben standing there and smiling. She headed his way after a moment, and Ben smiled as she approached him. “You look beautiful,” was out of his mouth before he could stop it. 

“Thank you, Ben,” Rey said, turning to look at the setup on his neighbors' lawn. “This is quite complicated to you, I'm sure, but it's pretty normal for when you're shooting at an actual house.”

“I never would have guessed so much goes into filming these scenes, but as I said, I'm not the biggest movie guy in the world.”

“We'll just have to change that then,” Rey said, instantly regretting it and changing the subject. “What are you doing here?”

Ben pointed to his house. “I live here.”

Rey's eyes widened. “They didn't tell you about this, did they?”

“Finn said someone was supposed to come to talk to me about it, but I've been at the café so much that they never got a hold of me.”

“I'm so sorry, Ben. You really should have been made aware of this before. I'm surprised your neighbors didn't say anything.”

“I don't exactly talk to them. They're kind of weird and creepy,” Ben said, watching as a dresser was carried out the door. “Are they moving all their furniture out?”

“Most of it, I think,” Rey said. “They need to dress the house the way it should be for the film.”

A small laugh escaped Ben. “I don't even want to know how much money they paid them for doing this. It must have been a lot though.”

“That wouldn't surprise me.” Rey looked over at his house. “Your house is lovely.”

“The outside is much nicer than the inside,” Ben said. “I haven't had much time to fix up the inside yet.”

“I'm sure it's better than you think.”

“Maybe, but it really needs to be fixed up. I can't take the all-white walls. It makes me feel like I'm in a hospital.”

Rey smiled. “You don't like white walls?”

Ben shook his head. “I'm the reason that all the walls in the café are painted blue. I don't want the café to feel like the hospital.”

“You seem to have had experiences with the hospital that weren't pleasant,” Rey said softly. “And I'm sorry if I just brought up something you don't want to talk about.”

“It's fine,” Ben murmured. “My father had a massive heart attack a few years ago. He was in the hospital for three weeks. It was touch and go for several days. Scariest experience of my life. But the hospital system here is amazing and Dad's fine now.”

“I'm sorry you had to go through that,” Rey said, gently touching Ben on the arm. “I lost my parents when I was fifteen, and I sat in a hospital waiting room for hours after the accident, so I sympathize.”

“My apologies. I didn't know. I wouldn't have said anything if I had.”

“Don't apologize. I didn't expect you to know that.”

“Rey!” someone called out, and she smiled at Ben.

“I'll come to the café tonight, okay? Maybe we can talk some more.”

Ben couldn't stop himself from smiling back. “I'll be there till close.”

“Then I'll see you tonight,” Rey said, walking back towards the equipment.

Ben watched her go, thought about how gorgeous she was again, and then reminded himself to stop thinking such things. She was a Hollywood actress that would be leaving in a matter of weeks and then he'd never see her in person again.

He just wouldn't.

**********

“Alright, talk.”

Ben turned around to see his grandmother standing there, and he sighed. “I don't know what you're talking about, Grandma.”

“Benjamin, I can tell when you're in contemplation of something, and you clearly are doing that now,” Padmé said, walking around the counter and smiling at him. “Now, come on. Talk.”

Ben stared at her for a moment before sighing again. “I just met someone and can't get them out of my head. And I really need to get them out of my head because I'm never going to see them again.”

Padmé's smile turned into a grin. “You met a girl.”

“Yes, but it's pointless because I can't do anything about it,” Ben murmured, turning his attention to the newly printed menus. “I need to check every one of these to make sure they printed right before I do anything else.”

“Then check them while you're talking to me,” Padmé said, reaching out and taking a stack. “And I will help. Who is this girl?”

Ben stood there for a moment before realizing he had no way out of this one. “Her name is Rey.”

“Rey.”

“Rey.”

“That's the name of that actress.”

“I know it is.”

Padmé looked over at him. “Are you telling me that this girl you can't get out of your head is Rey Palpatine?”

Ben just nodded. “Do you see now why I need to get her out of my head?”

“Hm,” Padmé hummed. “Does she already have her soulmate?”

“No. She only just got her soulmark and she hasn't found him yet.”

“So she's twenty-three then?”

“I believe so. I haven't looked up her age.”

Padmé pulled her phone out of her purse and unlocked it, immediately going to the browser and typing in the address for IMDB. “Then we're going to have to check.”

“Grandma, it doesn't matter. She has a soulmate out there, and it's most definitely not me.”

“You can't be sure of that until you press down on her soulmark,” Padmé said seriously, bringing up Rey's page. “Good lord, this woman has been in a lot of films for a twenty-three-year-old.”

“I wouldn't know. I hardly watch films of any kind anymore.”

“I know,” Padmé said, opening up the section with Rey's biography. “Well, she's definitely twenty-three, alright. Do you remember the date when your soulmark turned color?”

“July eighteenth.”

Padmé stared at her phone silently, so Ben just ignored her, going back to checking the menus. She'd speak again when there was something to say. She always did that with him.

“Ben?” Padmé said softly. “I want you to look at Rey's birth date, okay?”

“This is ridiculous, Grandma.”

“Benjamin, please do as I asked.”

Ben sighed and took the phone from his grandmother, looking down at it and searching the screen with his eyes until he found Rey's birth date. 

Then he stared and stared and stared.

“She was born on the eighteenth of July?” he managed to finally say. “Seriously?”

Padmé nodded and took the phone back from Ben, smiling softly. “You need to press down on her soulmark, Ben. You need to find out if it's her.”

Ben sucked in a couple of deep breaths before picking up a menu and looking it over. “That can't possibly be the truth. It just can't.”

“It might be,” Padmé said, reaching out to grasp one of Ben's hands. “And I need you to be open to the thought that it is. I know that she's a big star and that she doesn't live here, but Ben, fate works in mysterious ways. I never thought I was going to be living in a town like this, but when I came here with some friends to see that concert, I met Anakin and everything changed. I hadn't planned on that. You can't plan on how you're going to meet your soulmate. It's just not how it works.”

“I know,” Ben murmured. “I just...I'm nobody, Grandma. She's Rey fucking Palpatine and I'm nobody.”

“You are not nobody,” Padmé said firmly. “You are Benjamin Solo and you are somebody. You're kind and generous and strong-willed. You have a heart of gold, you run this place efficiently and proudly, and you are a blessed member of my family. Never say you are a nobody again. And that's an order.”

“Fine,” Ben said, shaking his head. “But compared to her, I am.”

“You are not famous, I will give you that. But that does not mean that you are a nobody.”

“Alright, alright, I'm not a nobody.”

Padmé smiled at him. “Thank you for admitting that. Now, tell me more about her.”

“I don't know all that much.”

“I don't care. I want to hear it.”

Ben started to tell Padmé the things that he'd learned about Rey so far, from her favorite kind of snacks to her favorite color, what type of pain relievers she takes to what type of flowers she likes. Every bit of information that he told her made him feel better about this whole soulmates situation, but he still was convinced that Padmé was wrong. 

She had to be. Why would fate hook him up with a soulmate that was just going to leave him?

Or, maybe he was destined to finally get out of this town and go with her?

Ben was thinking entirely too much about this for something that wasn't going to happen anyway.

**********

Rey was sitting at a table when Ben came out of the back, and he was relieved to see that Phasma was the one that was waiting her table. Once Phasma had walked into the kitchen, Ben took a deep breath and went over to the table. “Good evening, Rey.”

Rey smiled up at him. “Good evening, Ben. How has your day been?”

“Busy, but that's a good thing. How was yours?”

“Long,” Rey said, shaking her head. “Poe kept messing up his lines and so we had to do a lot of takes of what should have been extremely simple to shoot scenes. He blamed it on the fact that he spent all night talking to Zorii, but I don't know if I believe that or not.”

“Zorii?”

“Zorii Bliss, his soulmate,” Rey explained. “They've become quite the pair. They're almost always in the magazines.”

“I don't read magazines like that. I barely even acknowledge their existence.”

“Good for you. Unfortunately, I have people that have to do that for me. I always seem to end up in them when I least want to.” 

Ben looked over as Phasma brought Rey a strawberry lemonade, stepping to the side so she could get Rey's order. When Phasma walked away, Rey motioned to the chair across from her. “You can join me if you want.”

Ben thought about the work he should be doing, realized it was nothing that couldn't wait for the next day, and pulled out the chair. “Then I will.”

“You look tired if you don't mind me saying so.”

“I am,” Ben said as he sat down. “It's been a long day. Your crew woke me up early again this morning.”

“I think you're probably going to be woken up early for a while, unfortunately. And we're going to start filming some sunrise stuff in a couple of days too, so they'll definitely wake you up early for that.”

“Sunrise stuff?”

Rey nodded. “There's a scene where Poe and I sit on the roof and watch the sunrise together. It's a pretty pivotal scene, and we're going to take our time on getting it right.”

Ben sighed. “That sounds interesting. I know hardly anything about this film, but that sort of scene sounds interesting.”

“Do you want to know about the film?” Rey asked as she reached for her lemonade. “Because I'll give you a rough plot synopsis if you want.”

“Sure.”

“My character's name is Daisy. She's left the small town behind to go live in New York so she could have a better life than she would have had there. But her father dies so she comes back to the small town for his funeral, and she runs into Oscar, who is Poe's character. Oscar is an old boyfriend that she at one point thought she was going to marry, but Oscar wouldn't leave the small town to go to New York with her, and so they split under rather acrimonious circumstances. It's a love story about their reunion, but it's through a very sad point of view because Daisy is devastated over losing her father. It's going to be really fun to act, to be honest.”

“That sounds like it'll be really good,” Ben said, flagging down Phasma and asking her to bring him a cup of coffee. “Do you do films like this often?”

“No,” Rey said softly. “I wish I did, but my grandfather has me locked into all kinds of contracts to do the films he wants me to do and so I don't really get a chance to stretch my wings doing something like this.”

“Contracts for what kinds of films then?” Ben asked. “I have no idea how the film industry works.”

“My grandfather is Sheev Palpatine, the head of Empire Studios,” Rey explained. “Empire's the biggest studio in Hollywood and everyone dreams of being in Empire Studios films, which I understand. You get a lot of exposure and money being in one of those films. It's just that my grandfather has it in his head that I should only do Empire Studios films, and we have a lot of tension between us because of that. Still, I'm under contract to appear in two different franchises for Empire, and they have multiple installments stretched over several years, so I'm usually somewhere in the world filming one of those.”

“Do you enjoy doing those films?” Ben asked, thanking Phasma when a cup of coffee was set in front of him.

“I enjoy them to a point, but I really do wish I could do more stuff like this film,” Rey said, sighing heavily. “But if I anger my grandfather too much, he can say the right things to the right people and my career is over. I hate it.”

Ben's eyes widened. “He can do that?”

“He's that powerful of a man in the Hollywood structure, so yes, he can,” Rey murmured. “Please don't tell anyone I told you all of that. I never should have said it.”

“I'll never tell a soul,” Ben said. “I promise.”

“Thank you,” Rey said, looking up at Phasma with a smile when she set her sandwich in front of her. 

“I should leave you alone to eat,” Ben said. 

“Nonsense,” Rey said, reaching for the ketchup for her fries. “Stay and talk to me. I really enjoy talking to you. It feels like I've known you my whole life.”

Ben settled back in his seat, thought about what his grandmother had said a couple of days before, and sighed. Maybe she was right. Maybe it might be Rey after all.

But he was too scared to tell her that, so he wasn't going to.

At least not at that moment.

“I feel like I've known you my whole life too,” Ben said softly. “And I can already tell I'm going to miss you when you're gone.”

“I'm going to miss you too,” Rey said, reaching into her purse and grabbing her phone. “Here. Program your number in here so that I can get in touch with you.”

Ben was surprised. “You want to do that?”

Rey just smiled at him and held out the phone. “Absolutely.”

Ben tentatively took the phone from her and looked down at it, seeing a picture of Rey in Cody Park as her background. All he could think about was how he wanted to be able to walk through the park with her like that all the time. 

He shook himself from those thoughts and saved his number as one of her contacts, handing the phone back to her with a smile. “You'll have to put your number in my phone later. It's up by the register.”

“Then I'll make sure that happens before I leave,” Rey said, picking up half of her sandwich. “Will you tell me some more about your family and the café? I really do love the atmosphere in here.”

Ben studied her for a moment before nodding. “Gladly.”


	4. Chapter 4

Rey walked into the café and didn't see Ben anywhere, so she waited patiently for someone to come and seat her. An older woman walked into the room a few moments later, smiling when she spotted Rey standing there. “Pick any table, Ms. Palpatine. I'll be over in a moment.”

“Thank you,” Rey said, looking around before picking out a booth in the back and heading towards it. She settled herself at the table and leaned back in the bench seat. It had been a long day of filming, it was nearly ten o'clock at night, and all she really wanted was to go to sleep. 

Well, she wanted to see Ben more, but sleep sounded really good too. 

The woman walked over to the table and handed Rey a menu. “Good evening. How are you doing today?”

“I'm tired,” Rey said honestly. “But I'm also hungry.”

“It's a good thing you came in here then,” the woman said. “I'm Padmé and I'll be helping you tonight. Can I get you started with something to drink?”

Rey remembered that Ben had mentioned Padmé before. “You're Ben's grandmother then.”

Padmé grinned at her. “That I am. Ben is my one and only grandchild and I adore him.”

“Your only grandchild?” Rey asked. “He doesn't have any siblings or cousins?”

“No, he does not,” Padmé confirmed. “I think that's contributed greatly to him being lonely over the last decade, but he claims he's fine. I know better than that though. Thank goodness his soulmark turned red in July. He'd been waiting for so long.”

“July?” Rey got out, her throat suddenly tight. “It turned red in July?”

“July eighteenth,” Padmé said, hoping that would make Rey catch on to what she had deduced with Ben a week earlier. “As I said, he'd been waiting a long time.”

“Hopefully he finds his soulmate soon then,” Rey eventually said, picking up her menu. “I'll take a strawberry lemonade to drink.”

Padmé nodded knowingly. “I'll have that right out to you then.”

Rey tried to focus on the menu as Padmé walked away, but her mind was racing with thoughts that she could not stop. July eighteenth. Ben's soulmark had turned red on July eighteenth. His soulmark had turned red on the very day that she woke up to find hers.

His soulmark had turned red on her twenty-third birthday.

Had fate really conspired to get her to this small Nebraska town just so she could meet her soulmate? She'd been offered this part late, only after another actress had dropped out of the project. She'd only agreed to do it three weeks before they came to shoot the film there. But there were little things that stood out in her mind now, things that she just could not ignore. 

Ben working in the first place she'd decided to come to. Running into Ben at Walmart just when she was wishing there was someone there to help her find things. Finding out that Ben lived next door to where they were filming. The way that she felt like she'd known him her entire life when they'd barely known each other for three weeks.

There were just too many coincidences for Rey to forget about. 

She blinked when she heard a glass being set down in front of her, and she turned to see Padmé standing there. “Thank you,” Rey said shakily. 

“I heard that you're a big fan of this lemonade,” Padmé said, smiling at her. “Keep being nice to my grandson and I might just give you the recipe before you leave town, provided you swear to keep it a closely guarded secret.”

Rey laughed. “Well, I desperately want the recipe for this lemonade, so I'll keep that in mind.”

“Do you know what you want to order? Or should I give you a few more minutes?”

“No, I know what I want,” Rey said, looking down at the menu and ordering the first thing her eyes landed on. 

Padmé collected the menu from her and smiled again. “That will be right out then.”

“Is Ben here?” Rey asked.

“No, Ani and I sent him home around four o'clock,” Padmé said. “He's working himself to death right now and he needs to take a break. We told him that we'll fire him if we see him in here again before Monday.”

Rey smiled. “It does sound like that's a necessary threat with the way he talks about working here.”

“You have no idea, dear. Sometimes I think the only thing he knows how to do anymore is run this place. He doesn't have a social life of any kind. No real friends either. All his ones from high school have left town and he was never that great at making friends to begin with. It's why we are all so thankful that his soulmark finally turned color. Hopefully, he'll find her soon and then never be lonely again.”

Rey forced herself to nod. “I hope that happens then.”

“I hope you find yours soon as well,” Padmé replied. “That's a gorgeous pattern around your wrist.”

Rey held up her arm and moved it around, admiring her soulmark again. “Yes, I think I got lucky with mine. I know that some people don't care for theirs, but I am in love with mine.” 

“Perhaps I'll show you mine before you leave town, provided you don't mind an old lady hiking up her skirt for you,” Padmé said, laughing. “Mine is like a garter around my left leg. Really pretty though, if I do say so myself.”

“Then I would love to see it.”

“Some other time,” Padmé said, smiling. “Next time we're both in here at the same time. Or maybe I can convince you to come to have tea with me and Ani at home while you're still in town. That would probably be better than me hiking up my skirt in the middle of the café.”

“I'd be honored to do that,” Rey said honestly. 

“Then we'll work out the details before you leave, but let me go get your order put in. I don't want you to sit here hungry for much longer.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Skywalker,” Rey said, and Padmé shook her head. 

“It's Padmé and nothing else, Ms. Palpatine.”

“Rey. Please call me Rey.”

“Then I will do so,” Padmé said. “Food will be out shortly.”

Padmé walked away and Rey took a deep breath. It was a coincidence. It was nothing more than a coincidence. There was no way that she could have met her soulmate in this small town. Absolutely no way.

Besides, she was pretty sure that Ben would never leave here. And how could she have a soulmate here when she lived in Los Angeles? 

Rey had a lot to think about.

**********

Rey sat down in the makeup chair, sighing heavily as Harter began to take down the three buns she had put it up in that morning. “Harter, can I ask you a question?”

“Of course,” Harter said, reaching for a brush. “And lean your head forward for a moment, please.”

Rey did as she asked and felt Harter begin to brush her hair. “Do you believe that fate can sometimes bring you to a specific place at a specific moment?”

“Yes, of course,” Harter said, gently brushing Rey's hair. “I believe that's the way all soulmates find each other. Fate brings you to the right place at the right moment. Why?”

“Because I'm starting to think that might have happened to me,” Rey said softly. “I learned something about Ben and I...I just feel this connection to him like I've never felt with anyone before.”

Harter smiled. “Have you pressed down on his soulmark yet?”

“No,” Rey said, shaking her head and pulling her hair from Harter's grasp. “Shit. Sorry.”

“It's fine. I haven't started yet,” Harter replied. “And you need to press down on his mark then. It's the only way you'll know for sure.”

“I'm scared to,” Rey murmured. “I don't know how this could possibly work if he is.”

“Surely he would want to leave here and move to Los Angeles to be with you.”

“I'm not so sure about that. His whole life is in this town. I don't know if I can ask him to leave that.”

“Then maybe you should move here.”

Rey blinked rapidly. “What?”

“There are plenty of Hollywood stars that don't live in Los Angeles full time,” Harter pointed out. “That one guy has practically bought that entire small town in Idaho.”

“Yes, I've heard that Dopheld Mitaka has done that,” Rey said. “I'm not sure that I could live here all the time though.”

“Then don't. Just live here part of the time and get him to live in Los Angeles part of the time. I think that's a fair arrangement.”

“What's a fair arrangement?” came Kaydel's voice, and Rey glanced up to see her beginning to open up cases in front of her.

“Rey and Ben splitting their time between here and Los Angeles,” Harter said before Rey could respond.

Kaydel let out a shriek. “So, he's your soulmate?”

“I don't know if he's my soulmate,” Rey said seriously. “At this moment, it's just a suspicion that he might be.”

“Then you need to press down on his soulmark,” Kaydel replied, turning back to the cases. “It's the only way.”

“That's what I told her,” Harter said. “Okay, Rey, head up.”

Rey lifted her head up and sighed. “I know that pressing down on his mark is the way to truly know for sure, but there is a part of me that is absolutely terrified of doing that.”

“I can understand that,” Harter said. “But you need to overcome that fear. It's the only way that you'll know, and if you're right, then it's the only way that you'll be happy.”

“Even though my soulmark is blue, every time I meet someone with a blue soulmark and we examine each other's, I press down on it just hoping that it's them,” Kaydel added. “It may be something that you're scared of, but it's necessary, especially if you think that Ben might really be it.”

Rey sat there for a moment. “I was talking with his grandmother last night at the café and I found out that Ben's soulmark turned red on my twenty-third birthday.”

Harter and Kaydel both stopped what they were doing. “What?” Kaydel eventually said.

“Ben's soulmark apparently turned red on my twenty-third birthday,” Rey said, reaching up to run her hands over her face. “Fuck, I don't know what to do. This would never work.”

“I think that you have no idea what would or would not work,” Harter said, beginning to brush Rey's hair again. “You two haven't been presented with that scenario yet. You never know, Rey. He might view this as a chance to get out of this town and move to Los Angeles to be with you.”

“Maybe, but the feeling I get from talking with him is that he wouldn't,” Rey said, glancing over when the actress that was playing her adopted sister sat down in the chair next to hers. “Good morning, Jannah.”

“Good morning,” Jannah said, entirely too cheery for four o'clock in the morning. “How are you this morning?”

“Rey's scared because she might have met her soulmate,” Kaydel said before Rey could speak, and Jannah looked over at her in excitement.

“Really, Rey? That's amazing.”

“It is and it isn't,” Rey said, leaning her head forward again when Harter told her to. “I mean, Ben's a great guy from what I've been able to tell, and I really enjoy being around him and talking to him. But his entire life is in this town, and I don't know that I can ask him to leave that.”

“Then don't and live here instead,” Jannah said, sitting back in her chair when the hairstylist she worked with came up behind her. “That's totally possible, you know. I don't live in London, New York City, or Los Angeles. I live in a quiet, quaint town in the English countryside.”

“Yes, but, no offense, Jannah, you aren't a celebrity with the same level as fame as I have,” Rey said carefully, but Jannah just laughed.

“Trust me, I am well aware of that. I am also happy as fuck about that. But my point still stands. You can live in a small town and still be a successful actress.”

“I know I can,” Rey sighed. “There's a whole host of actors that have moved to rural Idaho or Montana lately. I'm just not sure if that's the right thing for me to do. My grandfather would be completely against it, that's for sure.”

“I think that you'd feel a lot better if you told your grandfather to fuck off, personally,” Jannah responded. “I know I would have done that if I had to go through some of the shit you go through.”

“Not here, Jannah,” Rey warned. “I don't need people overhearing that.”

“I know,” Jannah said. “But my point still stands.”

“I hear your point and you're right, but I do like to work,” Rey said, wincing when Harter brushed a little too hard. “That really hurt, Harter.”

“Sorry!” Harter exclaimed. “There was more of a tangle there than I thought there was.”

Jannah started talking to Rey about that day's scene and Rey fell into the conversation easily. Talking about work meant that she wasn't thinking about Ben, and she really needed to not think about Ben for a while.

But she had to press down on his soulmark before this film shoot was over. She really did.

**********

Ben looked out the window when he heard the loud crash of lightning, and he sighed when he noticed it begin to pour down with rain. The clouds had been threatening all day, the forecast calling for rain for hours once it finally began, and Ben knew that meant that the café was going to be dead because no one would want to be out in it.

Great.

The wind picked up not long after that, crashing the raindrops against the windows violently, and Ben prayed that the storm didn't develop into anything too severe. The last thing they needed was to be hiding in the walk-in freezer because there was a tornado warning. 

It was about an hour later when the door to the café opened, and Ben turned to find Rey and Finn walk in, shaking off an umbrella and both looking damper than not. Rey looked up to see him and Ben smiled at her. “Rey. Come on in and pick a table. I'll be over in a moment.”

“Thanks, Ben,” Rey said, leading Finn over to the table that had informally become hers. “Let's sit here, Finn.”

They settled down at the table and Finn looked over at the rainstorm. “If this keeps this up, there's no way we're going to be able to shoot tonight. That scene absolutely cannot be in the rain.”

“I'm sure Maz will come up with something else for us to shoot instead,” Rey said, but Finn shook his head.

“All the night shoots have to be done without rain. It's the only way that it's all going to work. Especially not rain like this. There's no way we could have the windows open to get cameras through without flooding the inside of the house, and there's already been enough damage from that accident with the steady cam the other day. The production company has just offered the owners twice the price that the property is worth to buy it from them anyway.”

Rey looked at him strangely. “What?”

“The owners of the house were demanding a huge increase in our per day rental agreement, and the company decided it was easier to just pay to buy the house from them instead of paying what they wanted us to. I've been assured that this should be enough to purchase the house from them, and then we can do whatever we want to the inside. When we're done with the shoot, we'll just fix everything up and put it on the market. We'll have no use for it,” Finn said, looking over when Ben came their way. “I hope that you haven't been too displaced by what's going on next door to your house, Ben.”

“It's not that bad now that I'm used to it,” Ben said, handing them each menus. “But I do miss the fact that I can't sleep in on the rare days off that I have. Going to bed early on the nights I get home before close is gone too. But I'm managing.”

“I am so sorry, once again, for you not having been told of what was going to happen with us filming there,” Finn said.

“Yeah, well, all I'm going to hear about from my creepy neighbors is how you picked their house to film in and not mine, so I'm not looking forward to that, but otherwise, it's fine.”

“Finn was just saying that the production company is going to buy the house from the owners, so it sounds like you might not have to deal with them again,” Rey said, looking up at him.

“That is the best thing I've heard about you filming there,” Ben said, smiling. “They really do seriously creep me out.”

Rey and Finn both laughed. “I'm glad that we're good for something then,” Finn said.

“Do you know what you want to drink, Finn? I'm assuming strawberry lemonade for you again, Rey.”

“Yes, the lemonade for me,” Rey said.

“Just bring me water,” Finn replied.

“Then I'll get those and be back in a moment.”

As soon as Ben had walked away, Finn lowered his menu and stared at Rey. “Tell him you want to press on his soulmark.”

“I am not doing that in the middle of the café,” Rey said seriously. “I don't care that we're the only ones in here. That is not happening.”

“Rey, you seriously need to understand that this is important,” Finn said firmly. “When I started to suspect that Rose was my soulmate, the first thing that I did was ask her if I could press down on her soulmark. It's the only way you're going to know.”

“So everyone keeps telling me,” Rey murmured. “I know that I need to do it. I just am not doing it at this exact second. I came here to eat lunch with you, not find my soulmate.”

“You're being stubborn again,” Finn pointed out. “But fine. I'll drop it. You need to do it soon, though. It's important.”

“I know,” Rey sighed. “Now stop. What do you think you want to order?”

They talked back and forth about options until Ben brought their drinks, and then they ordered. Ben said that the food would be out quickly and walked away, and Rey and Finn talked more about how the shoot was going and whether Maz was happy with how things had panned out so far. Rey was relieved to find that Maz thought she was doing brilliantly, and Finn told her to just go have dinner with Maz after a day of shooting and talk to her about what she thought of Rey's performance so far. Rey agreed to do so just as Ben brought their food out, and then they turned their attention to eating and talking back and forth about Rose.

When the food was done, Rey took the bill up to the register and smiled at Ben. “It was delicious, as per usual.”

“I really am glad that you like it here,” Ben said honestly. “It would have bothered me a lot if we had such important people come in here and hate it.”

“No, I'd never hate this place,” Rey said. “It's exactly the kind of place I've been searching for. I just hadn't found it yet. I'm sad that it's here and not in Los Angeles because I'll stop being able to come here as often as I have been as soon as we're done shooting here.”

Ben thought about Rey leaving town for a moment before shoving that thought to the back of his mind. It was inevitable and dwelling on it would only make it worse. “Well, I am glad that you are enjoying it while you can.”

Rey handed Ben her credit card and saw the soulmark on his arm peeking out from the rolled-up sleeve of the flannel shirt he was wearing over his t-shirt. “Any luck on finding your soulmate yet?” she asked, trying to keep the shakiness out of her voice and somewhat failing.

“No,” Ben said after a moment, his voice shaky too. “You?”

“Same,” Rey replied, swallowing hard. “Hopefully soon though.”

“Yeah,” Ben said, sliding a receipt in front of her so she could sign it. “I really am sick of being lonely.”

“I'm starting to feel lonely too. But talking to you helps.”

Ben smiled at that. “It helps me too.”

Rey slid the receipt back across the counter, taking her credit card and her copy of the receipt from Ben just as Finn pulled the car up in front of the door. “It was good to see you, Ben. I'll be back at some point tomorrow.”

“I'll be here,” Ben said, and they stared at each other for a moment before Rey broke their gaze and walked out of the café. 

As she settled into the car, she thought about how Ben's voice had been shaky while talking about finding his soulmate and wondered if he had begun to suspect things the way that she had.

As Ben watched them drive away, he thought about the shakiness in Rey's voice when she'd inquired about his soulmate and wondered if she had started to think that maybe they were each other's soulmates too.


	5. Chapter 5

Rey thanked the Uber driver and got out of the car, taking a deep breath before walking towards the café. She thought about what she was going to say to Ben as she opened the door, smiling at a woman she'd never seen before who was behind the counter as she entered the building. “Hello.”

“Rey Palpatine!” the woman exclaimed. “I've heard you've been coming in here but I haven't had the pleasure of meeting you yet!”

Rey forced a smile onto her face. She didn't want to deal with an excited fan right now. She wanted to see if Ben would let her press down on his soulmark.

But that was probably an incredibly stupid idea anyway.

Except she knew that it wasn't.

Ben came out of the back a moment later and Rey said a silent prayer of thanks to whatever god had sent him. “Ben.”

“Rey.”

“Oh, you're on a first-name basis!” the woman shrieked. “How wonderful!”

Ben just shook his head. “Mama, what did I tell you about treating them like they were any other customer?”

At that, Rey suddenly knew exactly who she was talking to. 

Ben's mother Leia.

“It's alright, Ben,” Rey said, thinking that she needed to make a good impression on the woman who was maybe her potential mother-in-law. “She's allowed to be excited.”

“Excited? Sure. What I know she was about to say to you? No.”

“Benjamin, honestly,” Leia said. “I'm allowed to say something to her.”

Ben just gave her a look, making Leia sigh. “Fine. I need to get to work anyway. It was nice to finally meet you, Rey.”

Leia started walking towards the back, pausing next to Ben. “Remember what your grandmother said and actually do something about it, okay?”

Ben bit back his response since Rey was right there, instead nodding. When Leia was in the back, he turned to Rey with a smile. “I'm sorry about that.”

“It's okay,” Rey said, nodding when Ben looked at her questioningly. “Just me today.”

“Then pick a table,” Ben said, grabbing a menu. “How's filming going?”

“It's going well,” Rey said, sitting down at the table that she now considered to be hers. “Today is actually my day off. It's just the others who have scenes today.”

“That must be nice,” Ben said, handing her the menu. “You've been shooting every day for what now? A month?”

“Yes, we've been shooting for a little over a month,” Rey confirmed, opening up the menu. “It takes a toll on you when you don't get a break, but we're trying to get all of this filming done as quickly as possible. Everything's got to stay under budget on this film. We're not working with one of the big studios on this. If this movie doesn't work, then it's possible Resistance might go into bankruptcy.”

Ben's eyes widened. “What?”

“Resistance is taking a huge risk on this project because they have so much faith in it,” Rey explained. “But faith doesn't necessarily equal box office, and that's what is really going to get the studio their money back. They're hoping that maybe there's some awards season buzz too since they've got me and Poe in it, but I don't know about that yet. It's too soon to tell.”

“That's a really big risk,” Ben said after a moment. “Completely different to the kind that we're currently contemplating around here.”

Rey looked up at him. “What kind of risk is that?”

“Well, it's still a big risk, at least for us, but we're thinking of opening up a second location. Not have it be exactly the same, but just another location. Maybe make it a little more like a restaurant instead of a café, have a dinner menu that's got a little better options on it, stuff like that. Somewhere a little fancier than here. I am sure that people would go to it, but my grandparents aren't sure that expanding is the right decision. It's a bit of a back and forth at the moment.”

“Well, maybe I can help convince them when I have tea with Padmé and Anakin this afternoon.”

Ben stood there for a minute. “What?”

“Your grandmother invited me to have tea with her and your grandfather, and we're doing that this afternoon,” Rey said, taking a deep breath. “Is that a problem?”

“No,” Ben said shakily. “I'll go get your strawberry lemonade and be right back.”

Ben walked away before Rey could say anything, heading straight for the office where his mother was. Leia looked up when Ben walked into the room, and Ben took a deep breath before he began to speak. “Rey has been invited to have tea with Grandma and Grandpa and it's happening this afternoon.”

Leia stood up and walked over to her son, pulling him into an embrace. “You need to ask her, Ben. And you need to do it today.”

Ben took another deep breath. “I am going to make a fool out of myself if it isn't her.”

“You need to stop thinking about that and start paying attention to the fact that she might be your future,” Leia said softly. “And I know you have a million questions about how this could work when she's leaving soon, but if it's her, then you will make it work. I'll help with that in any way that I can.”

Ben nodded and pulled back. “I don't want to do this in the middle of the café.”

“I know you don't,” Leia said. “So come up with some way to do it today that doesn't involve it being at the restaurant.”

“Like what?” Ben asked. “I never see her unless I'm here or briefly sometimes at home because they're filming.”

“Then come up with something for the two of you to do tonight that doesn't involve here or your house,” Leia said simply. “And then take the night off and fucking do it.”

Ben swallowed hard but nodded. “I need to get her lemonade.”

“You need to do this, Benjamin. I will sick your grandmother on you if you don't.”

Ben just nodded and walked away, getting Rey's lemonade from the kitchen and returning to her table. “There you go,” he said, setting it down on the table. “Sorry for the delay but my mother had a question for me.”

Rey reached for her lemonade and tried to think of how to bring the purpose of her trip to the café up. “So what's good to do in this town on a Tuesday night?” is what came out of her mouth, and that wasn't what she'd been planning on saying at all. “I haven't had a Tuesday night off since I've been here.”

“Well,” Ben said, taking a moment to think about it. “There's the bowling alley. Have you been there yet?”

“No, I haven't,” Rey said. “But bowling isn't exactly a fun activity when you're alone.”

“Then let's go together,” Ben said before he could stop himself from doing so. “Tonight. We'll get a couple of beers and some food from the snack bar and just have some fun for a while.”

Rey set her lemonade back down and looked up at Ben with a brilliant smile. “Yeah. That's sounds great.”

Ben almost sighed with relief. “Fantastic. What time do you want to go? I'll pick you up at your hotel.”

They decided that Ben would pick Rey up at five since the bowling alley wouldn't be too busy then, and then Rey ordered the sandwich that she was becoming attached to. Ben went and put her order in and then kept himself busy with other customers, and by the time that Rey was ready to leave, he had almost convinced himself that he was going to be able to do this. 

“I am looking forward to tonight,” Rey said as she approached the counter. “But I may be absolutely atrocious at this. It's been a very long time since I've bowled.”

“Don't worry. I'll be atrocious at it too,” Ben laughed. “Maybe we can put up the rails they have for kids so that we aren't constantly bowling gutter balls and go from there.”

Rey laughed loudly. “That sounds like a ridiculous way of cheating the game and I am here for it.”

Ben smiled. “Then I'll make sure those rails are up.”

Rey paid the bill and then looked out the window, seeing her Uber driver pull up. “I'll see you at five then.”

“Sounds good,” Ben said, and when Rey walked out the door, they both had smiles on their faces.

Tonight, they would find out if they were each other's soulmates.

**********

Rey looked around the cozy sitting room as Padmé set a tray down on the table in front of her. “Do you like sugar in your tea, Rey?”

“I do, yes,” Rey said, and she smiled as Padmé added a spoonful to a cup before handing it over. “Thank you, Mrs. Skywalker.”

“How many times must I tell you to call me Padmé,” she said, smiling at Rey as she reached for another cup. “Here you go, Ani.”

“Thank you, love,” Anakin said, settling back in his chair and smiling at Rey. “It's wonderful that you could join us today.”

“Thank you very much for the offer,” Rey said, taking a sip. “This is delicious tea.”

“My own recipe,” Padmé said proudly as she sat down in her chair. “I grow the herbs in the garden and dry them myself.”

Rey smiled and took another sip. “I might have to beg you for the recipe for this before I leave town as well.”

“Oh, there's no need for that, dear. You can have all the tea you want when you come back,” Padmé said, causing Rey to give her a confused look.

“I won't be coming back, most likely.”

Padmé took a sip of her tea before sighing heavily. “Don't tell me my grandson hasn't asked you yet.”

Rey's brow furrowed. “Asked me what?”

“If he can press down on your soulmark, of course,” Anakin said, nodding when Rey looked over at him. “It's really quite obvious.”

“You two have never seen me and Ben with each other,” Rey said shakily. “You have no idea what you're talking about.”

“I know that my grandson's soulmark turned red on July eighteenth,” Anakin said seriously. “And I know that July eighteenth of this year was your twenty-third birthday.”

Rey took a shuddering breath. “I know. I just...”

“You're scared,” Padmé said softly. “And that's understandable. I was terrified when I met Ani. This place was the farthest place imaginable away from where I thought I was going to meet my soulmate.”

“So you're not from here then?” Rey asked.

“Oh no, dear. I grew up in Los Angeles,” Padmé said. “I had a couple of friends go to college in Lincoln, and they invited me to come spend the summer here with them, so I did. We came here to see a concert and I met Ani while we were here. It was two days before I realized that he was probably my soulmate, and it was a terrifying experience. The last thing I did before I left town was ask him if I could press down on his soulmark, he said yes, and it was him.”

Rey smiled. “And you moved here to be with him?”

“My mother was very ill and I didn't want to leave her,” Anakin said, looking over at Padmé with a smile. “So Padmé said she'd come here. I promised her that we'd leave once my mother passed away, but she fell in love with the town and wanted to stay.”

“And that's when the café was born,” Padmé explained. “It became a family thing once the twins were old enough to work there, and then when Leia and Han had Ben, he got drafted into it as well once he was old enough. He's kind enough to run the place for us all now, but we know that what he really wanted to do was to get out of this place and really know what it's like to live. He feels stuck here and we all know it.”

“But now there is you,” Anakin said. “And you are most likely his soulmate. You can get him to leave here with you, just as how he can get you to come back when he wants to visit.”

Rey took a very long sip of her tea. “If it is him, I just don't see how that would work. He loves here.”

“Sure he does, but that doesn't mean he wants to stay here for the rest of his life,” Anakin said.

“Ben had dreams once upon a time, Rey,” Padmé said. “But his fear of rejection kept him from pursuing them. We have always been hopeful that once his soulmate came along they would be able to talk him into trying to actually pursue them, but part of that was always going to be getting him to leave here. If his soulmate had turned out to be a local girl, that never would have happened. But his soulmate turned out to most likely be you, and you can get him to leave and maybe pursue those dreams.”

“And what are these dreams?” Rey asked, trying to ignore how nervous she was getting.

“Ben wanted to be a screenwriter,” Padmé said, smiling. “I don't know if he ever settled upon television or film, but that was his dream. He's taken lots of classes over the years via the internet to learn how to hone the craft, and I'm sure that means he's written hundreds of scripts, but he never has tried to do anything with them. He's just always been afraid of rejection.”

“Ben wanted to be a screenwriter?” Rey asked, surprised. “He told me he doesn't watch movies and he barely has time to keep up with a series on TV.”

“Oh, I'm sure that's the case, but I also think that's just him separating himself out from his dreams and trying to think he's got only this reality,” Padmé replied. “If it wasn't for that fear of rejection, he might be in Hollywood making a name for himself right now. You might have met that way instead of fate bringing you here.”

“That's probably why he doesn't want to bring up the soulmates thing with Rey, love. He's afraid of that rejection too. If it was a local girl, he probably would have done it by now, but she's Rey Palpatine. There's a difference.”

“You're probably right about that, Ani,” Padmé said, turning her attention back to Rey. “Oh, dear, don't be nervous. This is really a wonderful thing.”

“I don't know how I feel about all of this,” Rey said quietly. “And I don't think I have anyone I can talk to about it.”

“Talk to Ben,” Padmé said sincerely. “I bet he's feeling just the way that you are.”

Rey took another long sip of her tea. “We're going to the bowling alley together tonight. I'll bring it up then.”

Anakin and Padmé both smiled at her. “That's a good idea, Rey. Now, how about we change the subject? I know Padmé likely has a million questions about your career for you.”

“Anakin!” Padmé admonished.

“Are you going to tell me that I'm wrong?” Anakin asked.

“Well, no, but that is not the way to bring that up!”

Rey just laughed. “It's fine, Mr. Skywalker. I don't mind answering questions about my career.”

Anakin just shook his head. “None of this Mr. Skywalker stuff. It's Anakin.”

“Anakin then,” Rey said. “But seriously, any change of subject is welcomed at the moment.”

“Then I'll let Padmé quiz you while I go find some cookies for us,” Anakin said, getting up. “Padmé forgot them.”

Padmé laughed as Anakin walked out of the room. “Always in need of cookies, that one. Now, are you sure you don't mind me asking questions?”

Rey took another sip of her tea and then smiled. “Not all all. Ask away.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I AM SO SORRY FOR HOW LONG THIS HAS TAKEN. I have a majorly fucked up back at the moment and sitting at the computer has been next to impossible, but I have the pain at a manageable level at the moment, so I sat up and wrote this for you. My sincerest apologies if its absolute shit. It's been so long since I've really written things that it might be. I don't know when the next chapter is coming, but hopefully I'll be back to my regular Wednesday writing schedule soon. Thanks for being patient. Hope you enjoy.

Ben sat in his car in the hotel parking lot for fifteen minutes before he forced himself to get out of the car and go inside. He had these plans to go to the bowling alley with Rey and he was going to stick to them. The bowling alley, beer, maybe some Godfather's pizza from the club, and then at some point in time he was going to ask if he could press down on her soulmark.

Once he was inside, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, scrolling through his contacts until he got to the one he still couldn't believe he had. He texted Rey that he was there and got a response that she'd be down in a minute, and then he was standing there awkwardly near the elevators waiting for an internationally-known superstar actress so they could go bowling together.

It was really quite absurd.

He forced that thought out of his head and made himself concentrate on the fact that this was Rey that he was going to the bowling alley with. Rey who loved his grandmother's strawberry lemonade and freshly cut tulips and Cool Ranch Doritos. Rey that came into the café practically every day, who would order anything on the menu at any given moment, and who Ben had slowly fallen in love with.

Wait, fallen in love with?

Fuck.

The elevator doors opened then and Rey walked out, and Ben thought she'd never looked more beautiful. This was Rey as she was when she wasn't being the superstar actress, when she was being the real Rey Palpatine, and Ben felt honored that she'd chosen to be this casual for him. “Hi.”

“Hi,” Rey said, switching what arm her handbag was hanging off of before giving Ben a brilliant smile. “Ready to go?”

“Absolutely,” Ben said, and they started walking towards the doors.

Rey told herself to remain calm, even if that meant putting on an act to make it look like she was. She would be great at that, it was her job to do that, but she didn't want to do it that evening. She didn't want to do that to Ben.

She wanted Ben to know her as she really was.

The drive to the bowling alley was short and quiet, and once they were there, Rey looked at the place. The building was old but it seemed in good condition, though the layout of the parking lot was atrociously bad. “The entrance of the parking lot leads to a row where you park by coming from the completely opposite direction,” she said when they got out of the car, making Ben laugh.

“Yeah, it's stupid, and most people pay little attention to it, especially when the club is packed and everyone is drunk,” Ben said, pointing towards the entrance on the right. “The left is the club, the right is the bowling alley.”

“Why do I get the feeling that club is very different than the clubs we have in Los Angeles?” Rey asked as they began to walk towards the building.

“Because it is,” Ben said. “It's really a bar that's also turned into a Godfather's Pizza, but it used to be called the Touchdown Club in the days that someone else owned the place and so it's just sort of stuck and everyone calls it a club.”

“Interesting name for a bar, the Touchdown Club.”

“Welcome to the state of Nebraska, where everyone is obsessed with the University of Nebraska football team since there are no professional sports in this state,” Ben said, laughing. “That place used to be filled with so much memorabilia it was ridiculous.”

Rey laughed as well. “I don't really pay attention to sports here. Football to me is still what is played in England. I believe you all call it soccer.”

“Yeah, we call it soccer,” Ben said, reaching out to open the door. “Who's your team?”

Rey walked inside and then turned to look at Ben. “This team in London called Arsenal.”

Ben grinned at her. “Mine too.”

“What?”

“Oh yeah. I'll get up at all hours of the morning to watch Arsenal before I have to go to work on the weekends.” 

Rey laughed. “Well, it sounds like we have that in common too.”

“Yeah, it does,” Ben said. “Come on, I'll get us a lane and some shoes.”

They walked up to the counter and the girl behind it's eyes went wide. “Uh, hi, Ben.”

“Hi, Lizzie. Can we get a lane and some shoes?”

“Uh, sure,” Lizzie said, clearing her throat. “What size shoes?”

Ben got Rey's shoe size out of her and told Lizzie his and hers, and then two pairs of shoes were being set onto the counter. “Lizzie, can we get the last lane so we've got some privacy from everyone else?”

“Sure,” Lizzie stuttered. “Names for the lanes?”

Ben laughed. “You know what to put for me. Rey? What name do you want on the lane?”

“My own is fine,” Rey said, smiling at Lizzie. “Rey with an E.”

“I, um, I already knew that but thanks,” Lizzie got out, typing on the computer for a moment before giving Ben a shaky smile. “You're all set. Last lane.”

“Thanks, Lizzie,” Ben said, grabbing his pair of shoes and waiting for Rey to do the same before heading in the direction of the lane.

“She did well,” Rey said as they walked. “I was ready for her to freak out on us.”

“Lizzie's pretty good at handling things,” Ben said. “I think it's because she has to deal with so many people when they're drunk.”

They arrived at the lane and sat down in the seats that surrounded the ball return. “So, do you want to start with beer and pizza or wait and get some later?” Ben asked.

“Um, maybe start with it,” Rey said, her voice shaky. Maybe if she had a couple of beers in her, asking Ben if she could press down on his soulmark would be easier. 

“What kind of pizza do you want then?” Ben asked, standing up. “I'll go get the order in.”

“Just pepperoni,” Rey replied. “It's the only kind I eat.”

Ben laughed. “Me too. I'll be right back.”

He headed down to the window that he could order from the club at, telling himself that things were fine. They were going fine. They were absolutely fine. He was not going to fuck this up.

Well, until he asked Rey if he could press down on her soulmark, because when there was absolutely nothing, then he'd definitely fuck this up.

But there might be something. There might be that thrumming of energy and pleasure throughout his body. That energy and pleasure that would go through her body too, and when that happened, then they'd know. That could happen when he pressed down on Rey's soulmark.

He was just convinced that it wouldn't.

Ben got them a couple of beers and ordered the pizza, and then he made his way back to the lane. Rey had her shoes on and was trying to select a ball when he came back, and Ben set their drinks down and smiled. “Pizza will be out soon. They'll bring it to us.”

“Excellent,” Rey said, picking up another ball. “Nope, too heavy.”

“You can check the balls on the other lanes too,” Ben said as he sat down and reached for his rented shoes. “You aren't limited to just those.”

Rey laughed. “Thank you for reminding me of that. It has been so long since I've been to a bowling alley.”

“How long?” Ben asked as he changed his shoes.

“Oh, at least ten years,” Rey said. “The last time I went was with my father and he has been dead for eight years.”

Ben remembered Rey mentioning that her parents had been in an accident. “I'm sorry. I can't imagine what losing your parents is like.”

“It was awful, but I've made peace with it,” Rey said, taking a deep breath. “It brought me to Los Angeles, which set me down the path of a career I love, and one of these days, it's going to bring me into the path of my soulmate.”

Ben swallowed hard. “I'm glad you have a positive outlook on it then.”

Rey found a ball and brought it back to the lane they were on. “So, are we going to put up the rails and cheat or what?”

Ben laughed and stood up. “Of course we are.”

“Brilliant,” Rey said, setting her ball down in the return. “How many games do you usually play?”

“As many as I feel like,” Ben said, walking onto the surface and bending down to pull out the rails. “So whatever you want to do is fine with me.”

“Then we'll see how many I want to play,” Rey said, taking a big sip of her beer. “Find a ball and let's play.”

“I'll be ready in a second. I already know what kind of ball I want to play with.”

Ben had selected a ball quickly, set it in the ball exchange, and then looked at Rey. “Looks like I'm up first.”

Rey looked up at the TV that had the scores on it and burst out laughing. “Who the hell is Kylo Ren?”

“It's, um,” Ben said, knowing that he had to tell her the truth. “It's this character I created, and I was telling Lizzie about it one day, and she put it in the computer instead of my name, and it's just sort of stuck.”

“Character you created, hm?” Rey said, smiling at him. “Go bowl and then tell me more about Kylo Ren.”

Ben nodded and grabbed his ball, going up to the lane and trying to remember the routine that his father had taught him. He threw the ball and laughed when it hit the rails three times and knocked down a grand total of three pins, but he turned back to Rey with a smile. “That's better than I usually do.”

Rey laughed and grabbed her ball, walking up to the lane and throwing it. Hers bounced off the rails four times but managed to knock down almost all of the pins, which made Ben groan. “There. Almost perfect.”

Ben groaned. “You're going to beat me, aren't you?”

Rey just grinned at him. “You're goddamn right I am.”

The evening progressed from there, their bowling getting worse as they kept drinking beer and eating pizza. Ben cut himself off after a couple since he was going to be driving, but Rey kept drinking, hoping that the beer would give her some liquid courage. They were halfway through their fifth game when Rey decided that she had to do it then before she lost her nerve, and she grabbed Ben by the elbow when he tried to walk past so he could bowl.

“Rey, what are you doing? It's my turn.”

“Shh,” Rey murmured, taking the ball out of Ben's hands and setting it in the ball return. She reached out and rolled up the sleeve of the flannel shirt Ben was wearing, and Ben's breath caught in his throat when he realized what was going on.

“Rey,” he breathed out.

“Shh,” she murmured again. 

Rey took a deep breath and reached out, caressing the skin that surrounded Ben's soulmark before taking her fingers and letting them gently trace the intricacies of the arrow that adorned his arm. Then she swallowed hard, looked straight into Ben's eyes, and pressed down on his soulmark.

Ben gasped as his body suddenly felt alive, energy and pleasure like nothing he'd ever experienced soaring through him. Rey felt it too, and the connection they had at that moment was unlike anything either of them knew they could experience. After a few moments, Rey pulled her hand away from his arm, sucking in deep breaths as she tried to take stock of what had just happened.

Ben was her soulmate. Fate had conspired to bring her to the small Nebraska town just so she could meet him.

And now everything was going to be complicated.

But none of that really mattered at that moment. All that mattered was that she had found him.

Ben stared at Rey as though she was the most amazing thing he'd ever seen, and it took him a moment to realize that it was because she was. Rey was the other half of his soul, the one he was meant to be with for the rest of his life, the one he was going to love forever. It explained how it had only taken him five weeks to fall in love with her, how it felt like he'd known her his entire life, how their friendship had come so easy. It explained it all.

It also made everything complicated as fuck.

But none of that really mattered at that moment. All that mattered was that he'd finally found her.

They stayed staring at each other for a few minutes before Ben stepped closer to her and caressed the side of her face. Rey gasped at his touch, nuzzling into his hand because it felt so good. She wanted to be touched by him all the time. She wanted to feel alive all the time. She didn't need to have him press down on her soulmark for that to happen. She just needed him close to her.

“Rey,” Ben said softly, unsure of what she was going to say. “May I kiss you?”

Rey broke into a smile and nodded. “Yes.”

Ben stared at her for a moment before gently drawing her closer, bringing their lips together tenderly. The kiss was unlike anything that either of them had ever experienced from a kiss before, and Ben had deepened the kiss before he even realized it. They kissed until they heard a cough from nearby them, and they broke apart to see Lizzie standing there. 

“Um, I just wanted to let you know that there are some teenagers with cameras down there who are very interested in you.”

“Fuck,” Rey murmured before turning to Ben. “We need to leave now.”

“I'll close you out,” Lizzie said. “Just come to pay when you're done getting your shoes on.”

“Thanks, Lizzie.”

As Lizzie walked away, Rey ran her hands over her face. “Don't suppose there's a way to slip out mostly unnoticed is there.”

“Side door,” Ben said, pointing to it. “Hardly anyone uses it. I'll give you the car keys and you can go out there while I settle things up with Lizzie.”

“Let me pay for tonight.”

“No,” Ben said, shaking his head. “I'm the one who said we should come here together. It's my treat.”

Rey noticed that a larger group of teenagers was gathering, and she quickly dropped into a chair and changed her shoes. “Keys, please.”

Ben nodded and handed them over. “I'll be there in a few minutes.”

Rey slipped out the side door after a moment and Ben sat down to take his rented shoes off. By the time he was standing up with his own shoes on, a couple of the teenagers had moved down to where they were staring right at him. “Ben Solo.”

Ben closed his eyes for a moment before turning to them. “Yes?”

“Were you just kissing Rey Palpatine?” one of the girls asked.

“I'm not answering that,” Ben said, grabbing both pairs of rented shoes and heading towards the counter. 

“Lizzie,” he said when he got there. “Get me out of here fast.”

“Not a problem,” Lizzie said, grabbing Ben's credit card out of his hand. “Give me just a second to run this and then all you've got to do is sign the receipt.”

Ben stood there, knowing that the eyes of the entire group of teenagers were on him, signed the receipt when Lizzie set it in front of him, grabbed his credit card from her, and practically ran out of the building. Rey had turned the car on and was listening to the radio when he got inside, and before he could say a word, she reached out and pulled him into another kiss. The kiss was awkward with the console between them, but it still felt incredible, and Ben didn't know how he was ever going to deal with the fact that Rey was leaving for Los Angeles in less than a month. 

Don't worry about that right now, he told himself. Just enjoy this.

When they broke apart, Rey smiled at him. “Come back to my hotel with me.”

Ben knew exactly what Rey was asking for and he knew there was no way he was going to deny either of them of what they were both craving. “Okay.”


	7. Chapter 7

Rey slowly woke, rolling onto her back and stretching. There was still moonlight peeking into the room from between slightly open curtains, and she was about to close her eyes and go back to sleep when she felt someone shift next to her. She looked to her right and found Ben watching her, and a sleepy smile crossed her face. 

Her soulmate. Ben was her soulmate.

“What time is it?” she got out around a yawn.

“Almost five,” Ben said, smiling at her. “And I'm glad that you woke up because I need to leave.”

And that's when Rey noticed that Ben was lying above the covers, completely dressed. “Leave?” she murmured. “Why would you want to leave?”

“I don't want to leave,” Ben stressed. “I never want to leave this bed again. But I have to open up the café. We'll be open at six and I will barely have time to get home, take a shower, and change clothes without making me late for open.”

“I don't want you to leave,” Rey said in between yawns, sliding across the bed to be closer to him. “But I also understand.”

“What time do you have to be on set today?” Ben asked, bending to kiss her instead of letting her answer.

They both were grinning by the time that the kiss broke. “Ten,” Rey said, reaching up to caress the side of Ben's face. “I think anyway. Rose will be calling at seven to get me up regardless. Can't look tired on set.”

“Then you should go back to sleep,” Ben said, kissing her again. “And I will see you later.”

“We're filming late tonight so I'm not sure how that would work.”

“At the house?”

“Yes.”

“Then just come over once you're done.”

“Ben,” Rey said softly, “are you sure?”

“Do you think I don't want another night like last night?” Ben asked. “Because I want as many of them as I can have before you leave town and don't come back.”

“I have a reason to come back now,” Rey murmured. “And you have a reason to leave here too.”

“Let's not talk about that right now,” Ben said, shaking his head. “We have some time to work all of that out.”

Rey nodded and Ben kissed her again. “You should go then.”

“Not until I say something,” Ben said, taking a deep breath. “I love you, Rey. I know that it's probably too soon or whatever, but I fell in love with you so quickly and easily, and I just...”

Rey cut Ben off with a kiss. “I love you too,” she breathed out. “I was just denying it to myself, but not after last night. Not anymore.”

Ben gave her the best smile that she'd ever seen. “Then that's great.”

“Yeah, it is,” Rey murmured. “You better go.”

“I know, but I don't want to,” Ben said, kissing her again before standing up. “Come over tonight when you're done, please. I don't care what time it is.”

“I will. I promise.”

Ben took a deep breath and smiled at her. “Be prepared to be ambushed by my family the next time you're in the café because they're going to want to know if you're my soulmate or not. They knew I was planning on pushing down on your soulmark last night.”

Rey laughed. “I beat you to it.”

“Yeah, you did,” Ben said, looking over at the clock. “Okay, I'll see you tonight.”

“Have a good day at work, Ben.”

“Have a good day on set, Rey.” 

They stared at each other for a few moments before Ben forced himself to walk out of the room. He made sure that he had everything that was his, glanced back at the bedroom one more time, and then left the suite. 

It occurred to him on the elevator down that he was going to need some sort of hat if he ever came to Rey's hotel again. There were plenty of people that worked there who knew exactly who he was and would question why it was he was coming out of the elevator at five o'clock in the morning. So once the elevator reached the ground floor, Ben took a deep breath as the doors opened and then practically ran out of the building to his car. He knew that he wasn't going to be able to keep what was between him and Rey quiet due to who she was, but he was determined to keep it just between the two of them for as long as he could. 

He drove home, took a quick shower and got dressed, and he made it to the café just past five-thirty to find that all the lights were on and the door was propped open. He carefully walked inside in case he was walking into a burglary, but then he heard the voices from the kitchen and knew that he'd walked into the Spanish Inquisition instead.

“He should be here any minute, Mom.”

“I am aware of that, Leia. I just hope he didn't do something stupid like not press on her soulmark.”

“I'll drag him to wherever Rey is and force him to do it if that's what it takes.”

“I'll help.”

Ben took a deep breath and walked into the back, shaking his head. “None of that will be necessary.”

Padmé and Leia both jumped at the sound of his voice. “Benjamin, I didn't hear you come in,” Leia said. “How did it go?”

Ben just walked into the office, so the two women followed him. “Ben, sweetheart,” Padmé said. “How did it go?”

“It went fine,” Ben said, keeping his back to them. “We were terrible at bowling, we had some beer and pizza. It was fine.”

“Benjamin, tell me you pressed down on her soulmark,” Padmé said. “Now.”

Ben took a deep breath. “I didn't press down on her soulmark.”

“Benjamin,” Leia said sternly, but Ben kept talking.

“She pressed down on mine.”

“And?” Padmé asked. “What happened?”

Ben couldn't help the smile that crossed his face. “What do you think happened?”

Leia smacked Ben on the back of his shoulder. “Start talking. Now.”

Ben shook his head but finally turned around. “She's my soulmate. Everything is complicated as fuck now. I don't want to talk about it.”

Leia drew him into a hug. “Oh, Ben, I'm so happy for you. You finally have her.”

“Yeah, I have her for less than a month, and then she's leaving to go back to Los Angeles, and I don't know if I believe her when she says that she'll come back here from time to time.”

“Then you need to go to Los Angeles with her,” Padmé said, and Ben's attention shifted to her. 

“There is no way in hell that's happening, Grandma.”

“Benjamin, honestly,” Padmé said, shaking her head. “You've wanted out of this town from the moment you graduated high school. You should have left years ago.”

“Excuse me, but I need to get to work,” Ben said, pushing past them and out into the kitchen. 

Of course, that just made them follow him. “Ben, you really do need to talk about this,” Padmé said.

“I'd prefer to talk about it with her instead of you,” Ben said seriously. “We barely talked about it in bed this morning. It needs to be worked out between the two of us before you're even involved.”

Padmé and Leia beamed. “In bed this morning,” Leia said. “My baby boy slept with Rey Palpatine.”

Ben groaned and grabbed a bottle of cleaning spray and a cloth. “I should not have said that to you. And you are not being around her for a while if you keep viewing her as Rey Palpatine. She hates it when people do that shit to her.”

“I'll make sure Leia stays under control,” Padmé said seriously. “But you are bringing her for dinner some night this week.”

“I'm pretty sure she's on set until at least eleven o'clock every night for the next week or so,” Ben said, heading into the dining room. “If you two are going to be here, your help would be appreciated.”

“We are trying to help you,” Leia started, but Padmé just reached for a cloth of her own. 

“Come on, Leia. Grab a cloth and a bottle and let's go help Ben.”

Leia sighed heavily but did as her mother asked, and by the time that they were out in the dining room, Ben had put music on and turned it up loud. “How on earth are we supposed to talk to you with this on?”

“That's the point,” Ben said, moving to a table and spraying it down. “Come on, Hux and Phasma will be here in about ten minutes and I'm definitely not talking about this with them here. I need to get this shit done and not be stuck in a conversation with you two.”

“That is rude, Benjamin,” Leia said. 

“But he's right, Leia,” Padmé responded. “This needs to be done before the café opens and this cannot be discussed in front of Hux and Phasma. It'll end up all over Twitter again.”

Ben spun around at that. “What?”

“There were pictures of you and Rey at the bowling alley on Twitter last night,” Padmé said. “One of the college kids in here was asking me if it was you, but I just told them I didn't know. Don't worry about it.”

“I have to worry about stuff like that!” Ben exclaimed, reaching for his phone. “She's a fucking superstar actress that everyone on the globe knows! She's on a magazine cover every other week, her relationships are some of the biggest celebrity news around, and I do not want any part of that.”

“I'm sorry to tell you, darling, but you're going to have to be,” Leia said softly. “That is part of her life.”

“Yeah, well, I don't want anything to do with that life then,” Ben said firmly, typing out a message to Rey and sending it. He took a couple of deep breaths and then picked up the bottle and cloth again. “Let's get this finished.”

“Ben,” Leia started, but Padmé put a hand on Leia's shoulder. 

“Let it go, Leia. We can talk with him about all of this later.”

“Fine,” Leia said, walking to a table and spraying it down. “But we are going to be talking about it.”

“Fine,” Ben said reluctantly. “Now tell me about how dinner with Dad was last night. He said he was taking you to the Canteen.”

Leia lit up. “I will happily talk about that. What a nice surprise it was.”

As Leia talked about dinner with Han, Ben continued wiping down tables and tried desperately to think about anything but all the complications that came with Rey being his soulmate. 

The complications that he didn't want to have any part of.

**********

It was barely six a.m. when there was a knock at Rey's door, and she was glad that she hadn't been able to go back to sleep after Ben left. She went and opened it, finding Rose on the other side. “Rose. This is early.”

“I was hoping you'd be awake,” Rose said, walking into the suite and waiting until Rey closed the door to continue. “So, you were all over Twitter last night.”

“That's what Ben said,” Rey groaned. She made her way to the sofa, sitting down and reaching for her coffee. “How bad is it?”

“The pictures were trending worldwide. The media hasn't identified him yet, but there were several tweets with Ben's name in it, most likely from locals,” Rose said. “So your publicist has been calling me nonstop all night trying to get me to tell him who he is. I know you would want this to be private for as long as it could be, but I don't think you're going to have that luxury.”

“Fuck,” Rey breathed out, taking a long sip of her coffee. “We need to go to the café and warn him.”

“I thought you were going to say that, so the car is ready,” Rose said. “I know the pictures are of you kissing, but did you press down on his soulmark?”

Rey couldn't keep the smile off her face. “Yeah, I did.”

Rose squealed. “Oh, I'm so happy for you.”

“Me too, but now everything is complicated,” Rey said, standing up. “This fucking Twitter situation is not going to help.”

“It was always going to happen, Rey,” Rose said as Rey walked over to the counter and set her cup down. “You had to have known that.”

“Yeah, well, I thought I'd get to have more than a handful of hours with him before it did,” Rey said, grabbing her purse and then smiling when she saw the flannel shirt Ben had been wearing laying there.

Rose watched as Rey put the flannel shirt on, a smile on her face. “That's Ben's, isn't it?”

“Yeah,” Rey murmured. “It is. Now let's go.”

They made their way out of the hotel and into the car, Rey shushing Rose every time she tried to talk about Ben. When they pulled up at Skywalker Café, Rey got out of the car quickly, Rose following a step behind. “Thankfully, it doesn't look too busy right now.”

“Then hopefully you'll be able to speak to Ben,” Rose said as they walked inside.

Rey forced herself to take a deep breath as everyone's eyes shifted to them and the café fell silent. Ben was not in the dining room and Rey was ready to turn around and leave. But then Leia came into the room and saw what was happening, walking over to Rey with a smile. “Rey, I'm glad you were able to make it. Let's go on back to the office so we can get you that lemonade recipe.”

Rey gave her a thankful smile and then she and Rose followed Leia into the kitchen. The people there stared at her too, but soon she was inside the office and Leia closed the door to give them privacy. “I take it you are here to see my son.”

“Yes,” Rey said, feeling nervous because she was talking to her mother-in-law, essentially. She knew that she and Ben weren't bonded yet but she wanted them to be as soon as possible.

If Ben would agree to that, and after this Twitter fiasco and what it all meant, she wasn't sure that he would.

“He went across the street to take my husband some breakfast,” Leia explained. “He'll be back shortly.”

“Across the street?” Rey asked, slightly confused.

“Han owns the hardware store across the street, and since I said I was coming in this early this morning, he decided he would go in this early too,” Leia said, laughing. “It's hard getting him not to work. I wasn't trying to give him an excuse to work more. The store doesn't open until nine.”

Rey nodded before realizing she needed to introduce Rose. “Rose, this is Leia, Ben's mother. Leia, this is my assistant Rose.”

“It's wonderful to meet you,” Leia said, holding out her hand for Rose to shake. “Is there anything I can get either of you while you wait? Something to eat or drink?”

“I wouldn't mind a cup of coffee,” Rose said, and Leia turned her attention to Rey. 

“Some strawberry lemonade maybe, Rey?”

“That would be great, Leia, thank you,” Rey said, and Leia smiled at them.

“Then I will be right back.”

Rey sat down on the office's sofa after Leia left the room and she took a deep breath. “Well, that was better than the first interaction I had with her.”

“Yeah?” Rose asked, sitting down next to her. “How so?”

“She didn't treat me like a fan would this time,” Rey said, looking up when the office door opened again. “Padmé.”

“Rey, what a wonderful surprise,” Padmé said, coming over to her. “Ben will be right back. He just went across the street.”

“That's what Leia said,” Rey replied, standing up and hugging her new grandmother-in-law. “I take it Ben told you about last night?”

“Of course, he did. Leia and I would have hounded him to death if he hadn't,” Padmé said, turning her attention to Rose. “Rose, it's wonderful to see you again. I hope your date the other night went well.”

Rey turned and looked at Rose, who just smiled. “Yes, Finn and I had a wonderful time at the restaurant you recommended.”

“Wonderful. The Canteen is the best place in town for a fancier dinner,” Padmé said, looking over at the door when it opened, Leia walking back in. “Tell me you were on your best behavior, Leia.”

“Yes, Mother,” Leia said, shaking her head as she handed Rey and Rose their drinks. “I am capable of talking to Rey like an adult.”

“I am aware of that. It's you talking to her like a fan that Ben warned you about,” Padmé said seriously, making Rey laugh.

“It's alright, Padmé,” she said. “Leia was fine.”

“She better have been,” came Ben's voice, and they all turned to see him walk into the office with a bright smile. “I didn't think I was going to see you again until tonight.”

Leia let out a small squeal and Ben shot her a look, making her shut up quickly. “I'm not allowed to be excited about a daughter-in-law?”

“Excited is fine,” Padmé said. “But I think Ben has had enough happy squealing for the morning.”

“For a lifetime,” Ben muttered, walking over to Rey and smiling at her. “Good morning again.”

“Good morning,” Rey said, her smile wide. “I need to talk to you about something.”

“Then let's leave you two alone,” Padmé said. “Come on Leia. Rose, let's go talk more about your dinner with that very nice man. I am curious as to how the two of you found each other.”

“Of course, Mrs. Skywalker,” Rose said, standing up and following them out the door while being instructed to just call her Padmé.

Once the door was closed, Rey set the glass in her hand on the desk and Ben pulled her to him, bringing their lips together in a sweet kiss. “Mm, I am never going to get tired of you doing that,” she murmured, making Ben smile.

“I'm never going to get tired of doing it.” He kissed her again before breaking away from her. “You're wearing my shirt.”

“Yeah, I am. Is that a problem?”

“No, most definitely not. You make it look sexy,” Ben said, smiling at her. “I'm going to guess that the reason you're here has something to do with the text I sent you.”

“Yes,” Rey said, reaching for her glass. “It's a bit worse than you thought.”

Ben closed his eyes. “How much worse?”

“The pictures went viral,” Rey said carefully. “They were trending worldwide, according to Rose.”

Ben let out a shaky breath. “Do they know who I am?”

“There were several tweets with your name in them, but it hasn't made it to the media yet. That's not to say that they don't have your name. They just haven't been able to confirm it yet so they haven't run with it.”

“Confirm it?” Ben asked, opening his eyes. “From you?”

“I'm sure that they'd love it if I did that, but I'm talking about a confirmed source here in town. Someone that can prove to them that you are Ben Solo. A patron of the café, for instance. I'm sure that they've got the reporters here to cover the film shoot working on it right now.” Rey took a sip of her lemonade and then set it back down. “I should have known better than to have pressed on your soulmark in a public place, but I didn't think of it and now we have this situation. I'm sorry.”

“It's fine,” Ben said after a minute, which just made Rey shake her head. 

“No, it's not, and I know it.”

“I don't know how I'm going to handle this side of your life,” Ben said honestly. “The attention, the headlines, any of it. I work in a café, Rey. I am not the kind of person who is good enough for you.”

“Stop that right now,” Rey said, reaching out to caress the side of his face. “Ben, fate itself says you're good enough for me, but even if it hadn't, you would have been anyway. This isn't about how much money you have or whether you've got a name known worldwide. This is about the fact that you are the best man I've ever met and I need you in my life.”

“You're just going to leave me,” Ben practically whispered. “Three weeks. That's all we've got.”

“I'll come back,” Rey said, kissing him. “I promise. And I meant what I said about you coming to Los Angeles.”

“My whole life is here.”

“And my whole life is there.”

“This is never going to work,” Ben said honestly. “It's just never going to work.”

“We'll make it work,” Rey soothed. “But we don't have to figure that out this second.”

“Three weeks,” Ben said again. 

“Shh,” Rey murmured, kissing him again. “We've got time.”

Ben nodded and they kissed again. “I want to know the minute that they get confirmation on my name.”

“So long as you will allow me to give Rose your phone number, I can have a phone call or text to you as soon as my publicist tells her.”

Ben nodded again. “You can give her the number.”

Rey smiled softly. “Things are going to be okay, Ben. I promise you.”

Ben took a deep breath. “Okay. Things are going to be okay.”

They kissed once more and when they broke apart, Ben smiled. “Are you going to stay for breakfast?”

“Yes.”

“Then let's go get you a table and a menu,” Ben said, walking towards the door. “Though Mama and Grandma may be already sitting at a table with Rose.”

Rey picked up her lemonade and followed him, but she couldn't get Ben's apprehension towards the fame aspect of her life off her mind. They'd come to a solution because they had to, but she was beginning to wonder what she'd end up giving up for her soulmate.


	8. Chapter 8

Ben got home just before eleven and he was in the middle of changing into more comfortable clothes when his doorbell rang. He walked towards it as he finished putting on his shirt, and then he took a deep breath and opened the door. Rey was on the other side, a bright smile on her face, and Ben felt better just at the sight of her. “Hello.”

“Hello,” Rey said, heading into the house when Ben motioned for her to. “I’m so sorry about everything that happened today. I can’t imagine it was very easy at the café, no matter you trying to tell me that everything was fine.”

“It’s alright,” Ben said, closing the door and locking it. “I spent most of the day in the office so I didn’t have to deal with it.”

“But that’s not how you like to work, is it?”

“No, I prefer interacting with the customers,” Ben murmured, noticing the bag in Rey’s hands. “You brought a bag with you?”

“I didn’t want to show up on set in the same clothes as I wore today,” Rey explained, turning around to face him. “Is that alright, Ben?”

“It’s fine,” Ben said, taking a deep breath. “I’m just not used to a woman having a bag of their clothes in my house. Or, you know, having a woman in my house at all.”

Rey set her bag on the sofa and walked to Ben, smiling at him. “Well, you don’t have to worry about that anymore. I’m here.”

“And you’re leaving in three weeks so I’ll have to get used to it again,” Ben said, wrapping his arms around her waist. “I’m going to miss you so much.”

“Come to Los Angeles with me,” Rey said softly. “Give your dreams a shot.”

“My dreams?” 

“Anakin and Padmé told me that you wanted to be a screenwriter,” Rey said. “Come to Los Angeles and give it a chance.”

Ben sighed heavily. “There is no fucking way I’m doing that.”

“Why not?” Rey asked. “I’d think you’d want to take this opportunity.”

“My scripts are terrible,” Ben said. “Awful.”

“Let me read one. Let me read the Kylo Ren one. You never did explain who he is to me.”

Ben tightened his arms around her. “I’ll think about it, okay? That’s not what I want to think about tonight.”

Rey smiled and caressed the side of his face. “Then what do you want to think about?”

“You,” Ben breathed out. “And how unbelievably amazing you are.”

Ben kissed Rey softly, but it quickly turned passionate, Rey’s arms sliding around Ben’s neck to pull him closer. They broke apart for air and Rey grinned at him. “Bedroom?”

“God, you’re incredible,” Ben murmured before kissing her again. “But I’m not sure that we should just jump straight back into sex.”

“Then what do you want to do?” Rey responded, reaching down to cup him gently through his pants. “Because this certainly says that you want to have sex.”

Ben groaned and let his head fall back as she stroked him gently. “Fuck.”

“Do you know how amazing you feel inside me?” Rey asked. “Because it’s amazing. They always say that sex with your soulmate is the greatest thing ever, and last night proved that to me. It was so much better than it’s ever been with anyone else.”

“I know,” Ben said, walking them away from the door. “And you have completely changed my mind.”

Rey laughed. “I think this is what you wanted all along.”

Ben just smiled. “You might be right about that.”

“I know I am,” Rey said, pulling Ben into a deep kiss. “Bedroom?”

Ben took a deep breath. “Right this way.”

The night before had been a dream to him, but he was about to be reminded that it was real and it was a reality that he could indulge in possibly every night for the next three weeks.

And then Rey was going to leave him and never come back.

Ben didn’t know what to feel.

**********

Ben decided that time was moving faster than it normally would be and he absolutely hated it. He’d had three weeks left with Rey, and now it was only three days, and they still hadn’t talked about what would happen when she left. It was a conversation that they both were avoiding, but he had a feeling that wasn’t something that was going to be good enough for his family anymore.

Rey finally had a night off to come over to his grandparents’ for a family dinner, and Ben had been expecting a lot of embarrassing questions about what they had been doing since discovering they were soulmates. 

He really didn’t want to tell them that it was pretty much nothing but some absolutely magnificent sex.

But the questions about what they had been doing didn’t come. What came instead was an interrogation about what they were going to do once the film shoot was over.

“We haven’t really discussed it very much,” Rey said in response to a question from Padmé. “We’ll get around to it.”

“When are you leaving?” Anakin asked.

“In three days,” Ben answered for her. “She’s leaving in three days.”

Everyone fell silent. “And you haven’t discussed how this is going to work?” Luke eventually said. “Benjamin, you can’t possibly be this stupid.”

“I’m not being stupid,” Ben started, but his father interrupted him.

“You are being a total idiot,” Han declared. “You both are.”

“This is a delicate situation,” Rey began, but Leia shook her head.

“I know that it’s complicated, but you really need to figure this out and soon. Three days is not enough time to plan out your life.”

Ben nearly choked on his drink. “What?”

“I understand what you’re saying, Leia, but there is no way that we would have been able to plan that out even if we’d been discussing things for the past three weeks,” Rey said, sighing when her phone began to ring. “Excuse me, but I have to take this.”

“Of course,” Padmé said, and Rey stood and walked out of the room.

“Benjamin, you need to be taking this seriously,” Leia said firmly. “And right now you’re not.”

“I am taking this completely seriously,” Ben replied. “She’s going to walk out of my life in three days and I’m never going to see her again. Dealing with that is what I’ve been doing.”

“You need to go with her, Ben,” Anakin said, drawing Ben’s attention to him. “You need to go to Los Angeles and attempt to live out your dream.”

“I can’t do that,” Ben said quickly. “There is no one to run the café if I do that.”

“I will be more than willing to step in and manage the café,” Luke said. “You being with your soulmate is far more important than me having a semi-retirement.”

Ben closed his eyes. “I can’t.”

“You can, sweetheart,” Leia said. “And you need to.”

Ben forced himself to take a deep breath. “You know why I’ve never left here.”

“Fear of rejection,” Padmé said. “And I understand that you have that, but Ben, you need to face your fear. It’s the only way you’ll be truly happy.”

“I can’t do that.”

“Benjamin, look at me,” Han said, making Ben open his eyes. “I know that this is scary. But you need to understand how this is necessary. She’s not going to live here, Ben. Her job dictates that she can’t. But you can write from anywhere, and the only way your writing is going to turn into anything else is if you go to Los Angeles.”

“I hate you all right now,” Ben said, reaching for his drink. “I absolutely hate you.”

“We’re trying to help you,” Anakin said seriously. “And you’re reacting this way because you know that we’re right.”

“Can we please talk about something else?” Ben asked.

“Only if you promise to think about this,” Leia said firmly. “Because we are right.”

“I promise,” Ben said, sighing. “Now please talk about something else.”

“There are the most beautiful flowers growing in the backyard,” Padmé started, and Ben let himself focus in on the sound of her voice. 

They were crazy. Absolutely crazy. Moving to Los Angeles was the last thing in the world that he needed to do.

Except he knew that they were all right. Moving to Los Angeles was the only thing that was going to resolve things.

He didn’t know what to do.

**********

Rey was quiet for the rest of the dinner and on the way back to Ben’s, and once they were locked inside his house, he decided that he had to ask what had happened. “Did you not enjoy dinner?”

Rey set her purse on the sofa and shook her head. “No, dinner was wonderful.”

“Then why are you so quiet?” Ben asked. “You almost seem sad.”

Rey closed her eyes for a moment before sighing. “I lied about who the phone call was from. It wasn’t my agent.”

“Then who was it?”

Rey swallowed hard. “It was my grandfather.”

Ben walked over to her and pulled Rey into his arms. “Did the phone call go well?”

“No,” Rey said, settling her head on Ben’s shoulder. “Nothing ever goes well with him.”

“I’m sorry,” Ben murmured. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“No,” Rey admitted. “But we probably should since it involves you.”

“How could it possibly involve me?” 

“He’s not just very happy about the fact that I’ve found you,” Rey mumbled. “He expected someone of a ‘greater pedigree.’ His words, not mine.”

Ben took a shuddering breath. “So he’s not going to like me, most likely.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Rey said softly. “All that matters is that I love you.”

A smile came to Ben’s face. “I’m never going to tire of hearing you say that. And I love you too.”

“And I’m never going to tire of hearing you say that.” Rey pulled back and smiled at him. “Kiss me.”

Ben leaned forward and captured Rey’s lips in a sweet kiss. “We really need to talk about what’s going to happen after you leave.”

“Come with me,” Rey said immediately. “Please.”

Ben sighed and let go of her, walking into his kitchen. “I can’t.”

“Why?” Rey asked, following him. “You have made it very clear that you wish you’d left here a long time ago. Why won’t you leave here for me?”

Ben opened his refrigerator instead of answering, grabbing a beer and walking into his bedroom. Rey sighed and followed him, leaning against the door frame and watching as he pulled off his shirt. “Ben. Talk to me, please.”

“My entire life is here,” he said as he sat down on the bed. “My entire family is here. I don’t know how I’d feel being away from them. I don’t know how I’d feel being away from here.”

Rey walked into the room and sat down next to him, watching as he took a long sip from his beer. “I know what that feels like. I was terrified when it was time for me to leave London and come here. But you’ve got to take that risk sometimes, and this is one of those times.”

“I don’t take risks.”

Rey leaned over and pressed a kiss to his bare shoulder. “Not even for me?”

Ben took a sip of his beer. “Do you know why I’ve never left here?”

“Why?”

“I never had a good reason to,” Ben said softly. “I know that I had these dreams about being a screenwriter but I’ve always known that my shit is just that, shit. There was no point in going to Los Angeles because I was just going to fail. And now I’ve got you here and I’ve got the best reason in the world to go to Los Angeles, but what am I going to do when I get there? 

“I’m going to send scripts out and get rejected on every single one of them, and then my self-confidence is going to take a nosedive, and trust me, that’s not a good thing. You’re not going to want anything to do with me because I’m such a loser, and then I’ll end up coming back here and living this miserable existence without you by my side. So why should I put myself through that?”

Rey moved closer to Ben and kissed his shoulder again. “You could come to Los Angeles and fail at every single thing you try to do, and I’m still going to want you by my side for the rest of my life.”

“Don’t lie to me.”

“I’m not,” Rey murmured. “I promise.”

They sat there in silence as Ben finished his beer, and then he tossed it into the trash next to his bedside table. He finally turned to look at Rey and she caressed the side of his face. “You’d really want me there?” he asked.

“Yes,” Rey confirmed. “I want you, Ben, and I’m always going to. I’m so, so happy that my soulmate is you because leaving you behind was going to kill me. It was going to absolutely kill me.”

“You leaving was going to kill me too,” Ben breathed out. “It’s why I hate that you’re leaving in three days.”

“I’ll say it again. Come with me,” Rey said, tangling her fingers in his hair. “We don’t have to be apart. I promise you that we’ll come back here as often as we can.”

Ben closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “I need to think about it,” he said after a moment. “I know what I want to do. I just need to convince myself that it’s the right thing to do.”

Rey grinned at him. “I will help convince you in any way that I can.”

Ben smiled back. “Well, you could start right now.”

“Oh, is that so?” Rey asked, moving until she was straddling Ben’s legs. “And how do I do that?”

Ben pulled Rey into a deep kiss as he slid his hands underneath Rey’s shirt. “You’re wearing far too many clothes for what I’m thinking.”

Rey reached down and pulled her shirt over her head, gasping when Ben immediately started kissing along her collarbone. “Fuck, you feel so good.”

“So do you,” Ben said, kissing his way up to her lips. “But I know how we could feel even better.”

Rey laughed as Ben fell backward onto the bed, pulling her along with him. She tangled her hands in his hair and brought their lips together, hopeful that Ben was going to agree to go with her to Los Angeles.

Ben closed his eyes and lost himself in the pleasure that coursed through him when Rey grabbed onto his arm and pressed down on his soulmark. He couldn’t live without this now. He had to have this. He had to be with Rey.

He just wished he wasn’t so scared about doing what was necessary for that to happen.


	9. Chapter 9

Ben had 24 hours to make his decision.

Well, he’d already made his decision. He needed to convince himself to actually go through with it.

Everyone was trying to convince him that going with Rey was the right thing and it was starting to drive him insane. He didn’t want to be around any of his family because of it, and once Hux and Phasma found out about what Ben was pondering, they started bugging him about it too. It got so bad that he asked Luke to work in his place, and so for the past day and a half, Ben had been locked up in his house, refusing to answer his phone unless Rey was the one who was calling.

Rey came over whenever her day of filming was done, tried to convince Ben to go with her, and then let him avoid the conversation by initiating sex.

Ben loved her even more for that.

Instead of the things that Ben should be pondering, he was thinking of more practical things, such as what would happen to the food in his refrigerator should he leave and what would happen to his mail. Things that would allow him to avoid thinking about the one thing that he needed to think about.

But he had to make a decision, and he had to make it that day.

Before he could talk himself out of it, Ben grabbed his laptop, made sure it was hooked up to his printer, checked that the printer was full of paper, and then opened up a specific file and printed it. Fifty-six pages later, Ben was standing at the printer and making sure that the pages had printed in order, and then he found a folder to put them in.

Finding a folder to put the first Kylo Ren script in.

He’d always imagined that it would be a series, this epic space fantasy that he’d created. He supposed he could put a few of the scripts together to make it into a feature film because at the moment they were all written like episodes of television. He had at least eleven seasons of a show in his head, though he only had the first five written, and he was going to have a panic attack because he’d actually just printed the first one out so Rey could read it.

He walked over to the trashcan so he could throw the pages away, but there was a knock on his door before he could. So he set the folder down and headed to the door, smiling when he found Rey on the other side. “Hi.”

“Hello, darling,” Rey said, walking into the house. “I hope you don’t mind but it’s my lunch break and I don’t really want to spend it at craft services.’

“Of course not,” Ben said, closing the door and then reaching for her. “I will always be happy to see you.”

Rey smiled as Ben brought their lips together. “I am more than happy to see you.”

“So do you want something for lunch?” Ben asked. “I think I have the stuff to make some sandwiches.”

“No, I actually grabbed something from craft services before I came over here,” Rey said, walking further into the house. “But if you want to eat, by all means, do so.”

“I generally don’t eat lunch until around two because of how busy I am at work,” Ben said, walking towards the kitchen. “Want something to drink instead?”

“What do you have?” 

“I happen to have some of my grandmother’s strawberry lemonade,” Ben said, bringing a bright smile to Rey’s face. 

“You love it too, don’t you?”

“I drink it all the time,” Ben confirmed. “And I can bring the recipe with me to Los Angeles.”

Ben closed his eyes when he realized what he’d said. “Fuck.”

Rey turned to look at him. “Does that mean you’re going to come with me, Ben?”

Ben swallowed hard and walked into the kitchen without saying a thing. He quickly got two glasses and the pitcher from the refrigerator, working on getting them some lemonade. When he turned around to hand Rey her glass, he found her looking through the pages in the folder that he’d been about to throw away. “Fuck.”

“So this is the Kylo Ren script,” Rey murmured, looking up at him with a smile. “I can’t wait to read it.”

“That is going in the trash,” Ben said, holding out one of the glasses. “I should have never printed it.”

“No, you really should have,” Rey said, setting her glass on the counter and turning another page. “Please let me read this on the plane home tomorrow? Please.”

Ben swallowed hard. “So you’ll be reading and I’ll be doing what?”

Rey grinned at him. “You’re going to go with me?”

“Fuck,” Ben murmured, setting his glass on the counter and heading into his bedroom. “Why do I keep saying that?”

“Because you’ve made that decision,” Rey said, following after him. “You wouldn’t be saying it if you weren’t going to come with me.”

Ben sat down on his bed so Rey sat down next to him, reaching out to take his hand. Ben took a deep breath after Rey settled her head on his shoulder, and he leaned his head against hers. “The biggest city I’ve ever been to is Lincoln,” he eventually said. “I haven’t even traveled from here to Denver. And so the idea of suddenly being in Los Angeles is incredibly daunting.”

“I can understand that, but that doesn’t feel like a real reason to keep us apart,” Rey said softly. “So what is the real problem?”

Ben swallowed hard. “You told me that you are always around the world filming something. What am I supposed to do in Los Angeles while you’re in Italy or wherever?”

“Well, if you’re not in the middle of a project, then you could come with me. You can write from anywhere.”

Ben laughed. “I’ll never be in the middle of a project.”

“Stop thinking that way, okay?” Rey said, squeezing his hand. “I need you to give this a chance.”

“Rey, I don‘t know if I can do that,” Ben breathed out. “Just the thought of it terrifies me.”

“Then let me help you through it,” she responded. “I believe in you, Ben, and something tells me that you just need someone who believes in you fully to get you over that fear.”

“I’m not used to leaning on someone. I’m used to being alone.”

“But you’re not alone. Not anymore.”

Ben took a couple of deep breaths before brushing a kiss along Rey’s head. “I love you.”

Rey smiled. “I love you too.”

“I’ll go to Los Angeles with you,” Ben said, pushing past his fear. “But don’t be scared if I come back here a lot in the early days. I’m going to need to pack this place up and get it all sent to your place in California. I don’t know what I’m going to do with the house either. Rent it out, maybe. I’ll need money from somewhere.”

“You’ll have all of mine,” Rey started, but Ben shook his head.

“I will not just take charity from you, Rey.”

“It’s not charity,” Rey said firmly. “Once we’re bonded, it’ll all be yours anyway.”

Ben took a shuddering breath. “Bonded?”

Rey tilted her head up to look at him. “Yes, bonded. Don’t you want us to be bonded?”

Ben took another shaky breath. “I haven’t thought about that, to be honest.”

“We don’t have to be bonded if you don’t want,” Rey said quickly. “I just always thought I would be, but if you don’t want us legally bound to each other then fine. We’ll have to do some research on how unbonded soulmates can legally do certain things, but we’ll figure it out.”

“I’m not saying no,” Ben clarified. “I’m saying I haven’t thought about that. You’ve got to realize that I’ve spent the last decade thinking that this would never happen. That I was one of those unlucky ones whose soulmate had died young and therefore their soulmark would never turn color. That’s the stuff that’s been going through my head. I’m trying to adjust to the fact that there is a you. I can’t think about being bonded yet.”

“You really thought your soulmate might be dead?” Rey asked quietly.

“Yes, I did.”

“Oh, Ben, I can’t even begin to imagine what the last decade has been like for you,” Rey said, sitting up and kissing him softly. “But that helps me understand what kind of mental hurdle that you’ve got to overcome for this. So, if you’re not ready to come to Los Angeles, that’s fine. I don’t know when I’ll be able to come back here, but we’ll figure it out.”

Ben sighed heavily. “I can’t let you just walk out of my life tomorrow, even if it would only be for a short time. So I’m going to go with you,” he made himself say. “It’s just going to probably take me a while to get comfortable with all of this.”

“I’ll be patient,” Rey murmured. “And if part of that is you coming back here for a while, then that’s fine. I’ll be here as often as I can be. But that might mean months apart.”

Ben swallowed hard. “Months?”

“I get about six weeks off when I get back to Los Angeles before I have to go to New Zealand to shoot a new film for one of the franchises I’m signed to Empire for,” Rey said softly. “And I’d be down there for about two and a half months, followed by the same time period in Australia after that. I’ll be on the other side of the world from here. That’s why I would want you to come with me.”

Ben closed his eyes. “That’s a really long time away from my family.”

“If you don’t go with me, then that’s a really long time away from me.”

“I don’t want to think about that yet,” Ben said after a moment. “You said you have six weeks before you leave to do that. That’s plenty of time to think and make a decision on that.”

Rey kissed him. “You’re right, it is. So let’s just focus on you coming to Los Angeles with me.”

“I mean it when I say that I’m going to need to come back here a lot,” Ben said after a few moments. “I can’t fit all my stuff in a couple of suitcases.”

“You can bring more than two,” Rey said. “We’re taking a private plane back to Los Angeles. There will be plenty of room for more than two suitcases.”

“I only own two suitcases.”

“Then I can buy you more.”

“No,” Ben said seriously. “I will not take charity from you.”

“It’s not charity, Ben,” Rey started, but Ben shook his head.

“It might not be charity to you, but it’s charity to me,” Ben said vehemently. “I have a little bit of money that I can live on, but I am not going to let you just start letting me spend yours.”

“Alright,” Rey said, looking over at the clock. “I have to get back on set. I’ll come over once I’m done, okay? Shouldn’t be more than three or four hours before I’m wrapped.”

“I’ll just be here packing then,” Ben said, and Rey grinned at him. 

“I am so glad you’re coming to Los Angeles with me,” Rey said, kissing him deeply. “I can’t put into words how happy I am.”

Rey kissed him again before standing up. “I’ll see you soon.”

Ben watched her walk out of the room and waited until he heard the front door open and close before falling back to lay on the bed. Everything that they’d just talked about swirled around in his head, but there was one thing that he was concentrating on.

He was going to move to Los Angeles. It fucking terrified him.

But he loved Rey more than his fear was so he stood up and walked to his closet, looking for his suitcases.

He needed to pack.

**********

Ben heard a few hellos be called out at him as he walked into the café, and he echoed them as he made his way into the back. Hux and Phasma were thankfully busy so he didn’t need to speak to them, and he went into the office to find his mother and his uncle sitting there.

“Ben,” Leia said, smiling at him. “How wonderful to see you.”

“I’m going with her,” was out of his mouth before he could think, and that wasn’t how he was planning to start this but he went with it. “I’m going to go with her and I’m terrified.”

Leia stood up and walked over to her son, wrapping her arms around him. “Oh, Ben, there’s nothing to be scared of.”

“There’s everything to be scared of. She just told me that she has six weeks off and then she has to spend the next five months in Australia and New Zealand, and she wants me to come along for that,” Ben said, shaking. “I don’t know how I can do this. I don’t.”

“Shh,” Leia soothed. “You don’t have to think about that right now.”

“Yes, Mama, I do,” Ben said shakily. “I can’t do this. I can’t be without her, but I can’t do this.”

“Ben,” Luke said, walking over to them. “You can do anything. I’ve always told you that.”

“I can manage a café,” Ben mumbled. “I can function just enough to survive on my own. I cannot do this.”

Leia pulled back and made Ben look at her. “Benjamin, Luke is right. You can do anything.”

Ben took a shuddering breath. “I’m going to miss you all so much. I’m going to be so far away.”

“There is such a thing as video calls,” Leia said, smiling at him. “We’ll still be able to see each other.”

Ben nodded. “It won’t be the same though.”

“You’re not leaving forever, Ben,” Luke said. “And Rey has already said that we can fly out to visit you two.”

“I can’t afford that,” Ben said, shaking his head. “I already don’t know how I’m going to survive in Los Angeles without a job.”

“Benjamin,” Leia said seriously. “Rey has more money than she knows what to do with. She will take care of things.”

“I don’t want charity.”

“Your soulmate sharing what they have with you is not charity,” Luke said. “It’s how you two form a life together.”

“She’s already talking about us being bonded,” Ben said, and he hadn’t meant to say that either. “Fuck.”

“That’s a wonderful thing,” Leia said, but Ben shook his head.

“It’s too soon.”

“Your father asked me to bond with him on the day we pressed down on each other’s soulmarks,” Leia said. “It is not too soon.”

“Then we’re going to disagree on that,” Ben said, walking over to the sofa and collapsing onto it. “Why is this happening to me? I can’t handle it.”

“It’s happening to you because it was meant to,” Leia said, sitting down next to him. “And it was meant to because fate knew you could handle it.”

Ben sucked in a few deep breaths. “I hate fate right now.”

“You wouldn’t have Rey if it wasn’t for fate, so you really don’t,” Luke said, sitting down on the table in front of Ben. “You’d do anything to be with her. And you know that.”

“I know that I need to do this,” Ben said softly. “I know that the right thing to do is be with her. But Los Angeles is a big difference from here.”

“I know it is,” Leia said. “But you’ve needed to leave here for a long time. You’ve needed to go to Los Angeles for a long time. This is just fate’s way of making you do what you’ve always dreamed of doing. What you’ve always needed to do.”

“I printed out one of the scripts so Rey could read it,” Ben forced himself to say. “She’ll know if it’s any good or not.”

Leia and Luke both grinned. “That’s fantastic news,” Luke said. “You’ve needed to let someone read one of those for a very long time. Which one is it?”

“The first Kylo Ren one,” Ben murmured. “Lizzie put it up on the screen when we went bowling and I sort of have to tell her about it now.”

“That’s wonderful,” Leia said. “Now, you tell me how I can possibly help you with this. Do you need me to come help you pack?”

“No, I already did that,” Ben murmured. “But you could take care of stuff in my house once I’m gone.”

“Stuff?”

“Food in the refrigerator, getting my mail, stuff like that. I already told Rey that I’m going to have to come back a lot to pack up the house and stuff, and then I figured I could rent it out once I’ve got all of my stuff out of it.”

“Of course, Ben,” Leia said, reaching out and squeezing his hand. “But let’s not worry about what you need to do with the house after you’re all moved out, okay? Take one step at a time.”

Ben nodded, reaching for his phone when it went off. He read the message there and then stood up. “Rey’s almost done on set so I’m gonna go home.”

“You two go over to your grandparents’ tonight okay?” Leia said, standing up as well. “That way we can all spend the evening together before you leave tomorrow.”

Ben felt his hands start to shake just at the thought. “Okay, we will.”

“Then I’ll see you this evening,” Leia said, hugging Ben again. “And it’s all going to be alright, okay?”

Ben nodded and Luke hugged him as well. “This is a good thing, Ben. Just remember that.”

Ben nodded again before murmuring goodbye. He made his way out of the café and into his car, taking a few deep breaths before starting the ignition. He needed to think of this as the beginning of something instead of the end of his life there, and as he drove home, the one thing he kept thinking of was how Rey was his future. Rey was the rest of his life.

He’d do anything to be with her, no matter how afraid he was of doing it.


	10. Chapter 10

Ben had decided that the night at his grandparents was going to be their goodbye. He knew that he was going to cry and he didn’t want that to happen at the airport. The airport wasn’t going to be busy - it never was - but they were scheduled to leave at eight-thirty in the morning on a Saturday, and that meant that the diner that was inside the airport was going to be packed.

Packed full of people who would want one last glance at Rey Palpatine.

The evening was spent with lots of love and lots of laughs, but Ben was sitting there in absolute terror the entire time. Padmé made Ben’s favorite meal for dinner but Ben hardly ate it, his hands shaking entirely too much for him to be able to pick up a fork and eat. Rey sat next to him the entire time, reaching for his hand whenever she knew he needed some support, talking whenever she knew that Ben was unable to. 

The evening went entirely too fast for Ben but soon it was ten o’clock and it was time to say their goodbyes. Rey went to each one of Ben’s family, hugging them and telling them that she would see them soon, whether that was back in North Platte or if they flew out to Los Angeles, and then it was time for Ben to do the same.

And that’s when he started to cry. 

Leia went to him and Ben buried his face in her neck, crying harder than he could remember crying in his life. She said soothing phrases and squeezed him tight, and it took a while, but Ben got his emotions back under control and pulled back. Leia gave him a wide smile and reached up to wipe his tears away. “It’s alright, sweetheart,” she said softly. “Everything is going to be okay.”

“I’m going to miss you so much,” Ben got out, and Leia nodded. 

“We’re all going to miss you too. But we’re going to have those video calls whenever we can, okay? I don’t care if it’s three in the morning and you need to talk to me. You call.”

“The same goes for us,” Padmé said, walking over to him. “Whenever you need to talk to me or Ani, you call. We’ll stop whatever we’re doing and talk to you.”

Ben swallowed hard. “Really?”

“Of course, Benjamin!” Anakin exclaimed. “Do you really think that we’re not going to want to talk to you? We’re going to come to visit as well. It’s been ages since Padmé and I have gone to Los Angeles. You can get in touch with Sola and her family once you’re out there if you want.”

Ben shook his head. “Grandma, I love you, but your sister and her family are weird.”

Everyone laughed. “I know, Ben. I know,” Padmé said, smiling. “You don’t have to talk to them if you don’t want to. I won’t even tell Sola that you’re going out there.”

“Something tells me that the whole world is going to know that I am going out there before we even land there,” Ben muttered, and Rey reached for his hand.

“I wish I could do something about that but I can’t,” she murmured. “I would if I could.”

“I know,” Ben said, taking a deep breath. “Okay, we need to get some sleep so let’s finish this goodbye.”

Han, Luke, and Anakin came over to him, and then there were more hugs and kisses and Ben felt worse with every goodbye that was said. “I love you all so much,” he got out, trying not to cry again.

“We know, son,” Han said, putting a hand on his shoulder. “And we love you too.”

Ben stood there and took a couple of deep breaths before reaching for Rey’s hand. “Then it’s time for us to go.”

Leia smiled and pulled Ben into one final hug. “You were meant for this,” she said quietly. “Just remember that.”

“I’ll try, Mama,” Ben replied.

Leia pulled back and Ben took one last look at everyone. “Goodnight,” he said, and Rey squeezed his hand. 

“Goodnight,” she said. “We’ll let you know when we get to Los Angeles. And we’ll see you all soon.”

Ben took another deep breath and then turned towards the door, walking out of the house with Rey. He headed towards the car and fumbled with the keys, looking over at Rey when she plucked them out of his fingers. “You’re in no condition to drive, Ben. Let me.”

Ben realized that she was right, suddenly remembering how many beers that he’d had, and he nodded. “Do you know the way?”

“I think so, but you can tell me if I am missing something,” Rey said, smiling at him. “Go get in the car.”

Ben walked around the car and got in the passenger side, looking up at the house to see his mother and grandmother huddled in a window. He waved meekly and they waved back, and he took a deep breath as he buckled his seatbelt. 

Once Rey was settled in the driver’s seat and buckled in, she started the car and looked over at Ben. “Ready?”

All Ben could think was that he wasn’t. But he’d made his decision and he was going to stick with it. “Yes.”

**********

Ben had never been on a plane before.

When he stepped onto the plane for the first time, he realized that private planes were definitely different from regular planes because it looked like nothing he’d ever seen before. Rey was greeting the pilots and dropping her things onto a table, so Ben settled himself into one of the table’s chairs and swallowed hard.

One of the things that Rey had put on the table was the folder full of his Kylo Ren script.

He wanted to take the folder, find a window that would open, and throw it out of the plane. He wanted to find something he could burn it with and then set it aflame. He wanted to do something that would prevent Rey from reading it.

But he also wanted to know what she thought of it more than anything.

The thought that it might be somewhat good had plagued him ever since he’d agreed that she could read it on the flight to Los Angeles, and he wasn’t sure how he’d feel if it actually was. Like he should have actually gone to Los Angeles after high school like he’d wanted to. Like he should have actually let someone read one of his scripts a long time ago.

Like he’d wasted most of his life. 

Rey smiled as she sat down across from him, reaching across the table to squeeze his hand. “Ready?”

“It doesn’t matter if I’m not, does it,” Ben murmured. “But yes, I’m ready.”

“Things are going to be okay, Ben. I promise.”

Ben nodded and watched as Rey reached for her seatbelt, so he reached for his and fumbled around with it until it was buckled and tight. He took a deep breath when he heard the engines start, and Rey smiled at him again. “I’m so happy, Ben. I’m so glad that you’re coming with me.”

“I couldn’t let you just walk out of my life,” Ben said, smiling back. “I might be terrified, but you’re worth this risk.”

“And you don’t take risks,” Rey responded. “So it means a lot that you’re willing to take this one for me.”

Ben sat back in his seat and closed his eyes, remaining quiet until the plane began to move. “Distract me from what’s happening,” he said. “Tell me more about Los Angeles. I don’t even know what part of Los Angeles that you live in.”

Rey reached across the table and took both of Ben’s hands, squeezing them. “I can do that. Right now?”

Ben took a deep breath and nodded. “Right now.”

“Well, I live in Manhattan Beach,” Rey started. “Not right on the beach, but you can see the ocean from the balcony.”

“A house?”

“Yes,” Rey said. “I live in a house.”

“Tell me more about the house.”

Rey smiled. “Well, it’s entirely too much house for just me, so I’m glad that you’re going to be there to help fill it. It’s got six bedrooms.”

“Six bedrooms,” Ben said, interrupting her. “If it’s just you, why did you buy a house with six bedrooms?”

“Because I was hoping that someday it wouldn’t be just me,” Rey said softly. “I was hoping that I’d have a bonded mate and children running around it. A real family for the first time in a while. I don’t count my grandfather in that.”

Ben couldn’t help the smile that crossed his face. “So none of this Hollywood star moving because they’re bored of the house stuff?”

“Probably not, but if you’re not happy there, then I’d be more than willing to find a place that we pick out together.”

“Compared to my house, something tells me that I’ll feel like I’ve moved into Buckingham Palace.”

Rey chuckled. “It’s not that extravagant, Ben.”

“Probably not, but you know what I mean,” Ben said, gasping when he felt the plane lift off the ground. “Holy shit. Distract me some more.”

Rey squeezed his hands again and continued to describe her house to him, and Ben let her words soothe him. Eventually, he felt the plane even out and stay steady, and he opened his eyes to find Rey watching him with concern. “I’m fine,” Ben said, taking a deep breath. “That was just something I’ve never experienced before.”

Rey smiled at him. “Good. I’m glad to hear that you’re okay. We’re at altitude now, so you can unbuckle your seatbelt and move around if you want.”

Ben shook his head. “I’m fine right here.”

“Okay,” Rey said, letting go of his hands. “Get your laptop out and start working on that script. I’m going to read this one you printed for me.”

Ben took a deep breath and reached into the bag he’d brought with him, pulling out his laptop and setting it on the table. Rey had opened up the folder and begun to read by the time that Ben was logging into the computer, and he decided that the best thing he could do was lose himself in the world of his latest script. He absolutely could not think about the fact that Rey was reading the one he’d printed. 

Absolutely not.

**********

Rey was entranced.

Ben could write dialogue. That was clear. It was quick and snappy, intelligent but not so intelligent that it wasn’t understandable. It was some of the best dialogue that Rey had ever read. And the story. The story was incredible. She was only halfway through it but she was so engaged that she needed more than just this particular script. She needed all of them. Kylo Ren was fascinating, but his dynamic with Kira was unbelievable. 

She didn’t need to wait for Kylo and Kira’s dynamic to go from adversarial to romantic to know what had happened when Ben wrote them. He had been lonely and had given up on the thought that his soulmate would ever come, so he’d written how he wished his life was into the characters he’d created. Kylo and Kira were what he’d wanted out of life. She was now determined to give it to him.

She could tell that Ben was nervous from the way that he was typing, his keystrokes a little too hard for her to be convinced that he was fine. She wanted to keep reading, but instead, she set down the pages and reached out, tilting his laptop screen down until she could see him fully. “Hey.”

“Hi,” Ben said nervously, seeing how far into the script Rey was. “So, um, what do you think?”

“I think it’s amazing,” Rey said, smiling at him. “I’m going to need to read more than this one before I can approach Finn with it and tell him I want to get this made and that I want to play Kira.”

Ben swallowed hard. “You don’t have to lie to me.”

“I’m not, darling,” Rey said, reaching out to squeeze his hand. “I promise.”

Ben sucked in a couple of deep breaths. “I don’t believe you.”

“Then let me give this to Finn to read,” Rey said seriously. “Let me have someone else tell you that it’s one of the best scripts they’ve read in a long time.”

Ben felt like hyperventilating. “I don’t know if I can do that.”

“Ben,” Rey said softly. “You said you’d give this a chance. This is me giving you a chance.”

“I know but…” Ben trailed off. “I don’t even have an agent.”

“I’m sure that my agent will be more than happy to take you on after she reads this.”

Ben gasped for air. “How many people do you think I should let read this?”

“As many as it takes to get it made,” Rey said, smiling at him. “That is your dream, isn’t it? To get this made?”

Ben nodded before he could stop himself. “I don’t believe anyone would want to make that shit into anything.”

“It’s not shit, Ben,” Rey said firmly. “Not even close.”

Ben finally was able to take a deep breath. “I don’t know if I can do this.”

“You can,” Rey replied. “And I am going to be right next to you every step of the way.”

Ben sat there for a moment before squeezing Rey’s hand back. “Do you have a printer?”

Rey grinned. “Yes.”

“Then I’ll print you the next episode when we get to your house.”

“Our house,” Rey corrected. “You live there too now.”

Ben forced himself to nod. “Right. Our house.”

Rey smiled brilliantly and Ben thought about how he lived for that smile. “You’ll love it, I promise.”

“I hope so,” Ben said quietly, “or this is going to really suck.”

“If you don’t like it, tell me. Be honest,” Rey said seriously. “Because I want you to be comfortable.”

“I’ll tell you. I promise,” Ben said truthfully. “Because I don’t want to be uncomfortable.”

Rey gave him another of those smiles and then let go of his hand. “I’m going to keep reading this. What are you working on?”

“Another of the Kylo scripts,” Ben said, pushing his laptop screen back up. “Season six, episode three, to be exact.”

Rey dropped the page she’d just picked up. “You have FIVE SEASONS of this written?”

“Yes,” Ben said, looking over at her. “Why?”

“Oh Ben, you really should have come to Los Angeles a long time ago,” Rey said, shaking her head. “You’d be a really successful screenwriter by now if you had.”

“I doubt that.”

“I don’t.”

Ben took a deep breath and turned his attention back to his laptop. “I will attempt to believe you. But I make no promises in my ability to be able to do so. My shit is so bad, Rey.”

“It really isn’t,” Rey said firmly, picking up the page. “And I’m going to prove that to you.”

“Then I look forward to that,” Ben said, and that just made Rey grin.

She was going to make Ben’s dreams come true.

No, Ben was going to make his dreams come true. She was just going to give him the chance that any screenwriter hoped for by passing the script along to Finn. Finn was going to absolutely love it though. 

Rey knew that for sure.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for no chapter last week but it just wasn't working. still not sure that it does, but here ya go.

Rey’s house was...overwhelming.

She gave Ben a tour once they were there and Ben had looked around in awe. There were your typical living room and bedrooms and bathrooms, but there was also a walk-in closet that Ben was convinced was bigger than his entire house, three different places that Rey told him were offices they could turn into a writing room for him, a home theater, a finished basement that had a fully-stocked bar, a gym, a sauna, and the thing that made Ben nearly pass out, an elevator to get between the different floors.

He had been right when he’d said that Rey lived in a palace compared to him.

Ben finally sat down out on the covered patio because it was too hot to sit on the open one, and his head was still spinning so much from everything he’d just seen that it didn’t even register that there were two patios available. The ocean was a beautiful view out in front of him, and when Rey returned a moment later with a beer, he opened it and drank half of it down before he even realized what he was doing.

It didn’t matter that it wasn’t even noon yet. Ben needed to be drunk.

But Rey wasn’t going to let him get that way, and he knew it. 

“What do you think?” Rey asked gently, and Ben could only imagine what he looked like at that moment.

“It’s incredible,” Ben said honestly. “I never thought I’d be living in a place with an elevator that wasn’t an apartment building.”

“Yeah, I imagine that it’s a little different,” Rey said, sipping at her glass of wine. 

“A little different?” Ben exclaimed. “It’s overwhelming as fuck.”

“Ben,” Rey said softly, “it’s just a house.”

“It’s the most incredible house that I’ve ever seen,” Ben said strongly. “It’s a fucking palace.”

“It’s really not,” Rey started, but Ben shook his head.

“Think about my house, Rey. Think about it. It would fit inside your closet. And you know it.”

Rey took another sip of her wine. “Yes, your house is a lot smaller than this one is. But that doesn’t mean anything other than the fact that there is plenty of room for you to live here too.”

“This is going to take a lot of getting used to,” Ben said after a moment. “I’m curious to know how much all of this cost you but I don’t think it’s my place to ask.”

“Ben, everything that I have is now yours too, so if you want to know something, just ask,” Rey said, leaning back on the lounge she was on. “The house was fifteen million, and if you add in everything that I did to it as far as renovations go plus the cost of all the furnishings, I’d say it’s probably up somewhere around twenty million total.”

Ben dropped his beer bottle into his lap and stared at Rey in shock. “Twenty million dollars? Are you serious?”

“Yes, I’m serious,” Rey said, smiling at him. “Worth every penny too, especially for this view.”

Ben turned his attention back towards the ocean, picking up the bottle and drinking down what was left in it. “It is a beautiful view.”

“I like to sit out here and have breakfast when the weather cooperates enough,” Rey said, smiling. “We’ll have to do that tomorrow.”

Ben just nodded. “Tomorrow. What are you supposed to do tomorrow?”

“I have nothing on my schedule for the next three days, though I suspect Rose and Finn will show up at some point to see how we’re doing now that we’re home,” Rey said, and Ben felt his head start to spin again at the thought that this was now his home. “On the fourth day, however, I have a lunch meeting with my grandfather.”

Ben swallowed hard. “He’s going to hate me, isn’t he?”

“I don’t know about that,” Rey said after a moment. “He’s not happy, but once he meets you and finds out how wonderful you are, then I think that will change.”

“Meets me,” Ben said slowly. “And when will that be? I’m not ready for that.”

“We don’t have to do it immediately,” Rey said, reaching for Ben’s hand. “But we are going to have to do it eventually. Especially if you agree that we should be bonded. He’d need to be there for that.”

Ben swallowed hard. “I know that you want it, and I’m not saying that I don’t, but can we please not talk about being bonded? It’s too overwhelming for me.”

“Of course,” Rey said, and Ben could hear the disappointment in her voice. “We don’t have to talk about it until you’re ready.”

“I don’t want you to think that I don’t want to be bonded because I do,” Ben forced himself to say. “I just need to adjust to all of this first. Like I told you, I thought my soulmate might be dead. Now I have you and that’s amazing, but you come with a lot of baggage that I’m not entirely prepared for.”

“I wouldn’t call me having more money than you baggage, Ben.”

“I’m not just talking about the money, and it’s way more than just saying you have more money than me, by the way,” Ben said seriously. “I’m talking about the fame aspect of it too.”

Rey sighed. “Which fucking website have we ended up on now?” 

“I don’t know. Mama just sent me the article with a bunch of pictures of us getting on the plane.”

Rey reached for her phone and sent a text to her publicist. “I suppose we are nearing the point where Chewie is going to want to put out a statement saying that I’ve found you.”

“What?”

“Chewie, my publicist.”

“That’s great,” Ben said dismissively. “What do you mean put out a statement?”

“Ben, there’s got to be official confirmation at some point,” Rey said. “I can’t just never confirm it. They’re going to get photos of us together all the time anyway.”

Ben started to feel like he couldn’t breathe. “Photos.”

Rey set her phone down and reached out, caressing the side of Ben’s face. “Listen to me, okay? You are strong enough to handle all of this. I know you are.”

“Rey, I really don’t know if I can do this,” Ben said after a moment. “I really don’t.”

“Can I ask you a question?” Rey said, continuing when Ben nodded. “Have you ever seen a doctor about your anxiety?”

Ben sat there for a moment before shaking his head. “It didn’t seem necessary.”

“I think maybe it is, darling,” Rey said carefully. “So maybe that’s something to consider.”

“My doctor is back home,” Ben murmured. “I’d have to go back there and I promised you I’d stay out here for at least a month before I went back there.”

“There are other doctors, Ben. I’m sure you could see mine.”

Ben took a deep breath. “Maybe. That’s all you're getting out of me right now. I need to think about it.”

“Of course, darling,” Rey said, smiling at him. “Do you want another beer? I’m going to go refill my glass.”

“Probably better that I don’t. I barely ate breakfast this morning and it’s not even lunch.”

“Well, if we’re not going to sit here and drink, I have another idea.”

“And what idea is this?”

Rey grinned at him. “It involves taking all of our clothes off.”

Ben felt himself harden. “Really?”

“If you don’t want to, that’s fine,” Rey said, and Ben could hear the disappointment in her voice again. “I just...I thought that since we’re home that maybe you’d be interested.”

“I will always be interested in that,” Ben said, standing up and holding out his hand to her. “But you’re going to have to direct me to the bedroom. I’m not even sure what floor it’s on.”

Rey laughed. “I can do that.”

**********

Sex calmed Ben down a lot.

Rey told him to stay in bed once they’d woken up afterward, asking only what kind of food he wanted for lunch. She came back to bed after a few moments with a couple of takeout menus in one hand and two laptops underneath her other arm. She set the laptops down and crawled back onto the bed, handing over Ben’s to him before settling next to him. “Alright, let’s pick out lunch, and then it’ll be here in about an hour.”

“An hour?” Ben said, surprised.

“Welcome to Los Angeles,” Rey said, handing over a menu. “It’ll be that long for delivery. Probably a little shorter if I go pick it up, but I’m too lazy to do that today. Tell me what you want. And don’t go into price shock either.”

Ben turned his attention to the menu in his hand and his jaw dropped. The prices were at least double if not triple what some of it would have cost in North Platte, but he shook himself from that and picked out something to eat that wasn’t too outrageously priced. Rey had logged into her laptop by that point, heard what Ben wanted, added in what she wanted, and then placed the order before Ben could even ask about paying for his.

He did anyway.

“Tell me how much I owe you,” Ben said as Rey set her laptop on the floor and picked up a script. 

“Absolutely nothing,” Rey said, nodding towards the laptop. “Pull up the next Kylo Ren script for me please.”

“Rey, you need to let me pay for my stuff.”

“And if I let you do that, you’ll be out of money in two weeks,” Rey said seriously. “I’m not going to let you bankrupt yourself because I let you buy your honey chicken and fried rice.”

“Rey.”

“I’m serious, darling,” Rey said, nodding towards the laptop. “Now, pull up that second episode for me. I need to read that now.”

“You’re not going to read that, whatever it is?” Ben asked, but he still logged into his laptop all the same.

“Nope, you’re going to read this one,” Rey said, smiling at him. “It’s the script for the movie I’m going to New Zealand to film.”

“Why do you want me to read that?” Ben murmured, searching through his files for the right one.

“Because I want you to see that what you wrote is better than this,” Rey said, picking up the script. “So I’ll trade ya.”

Ben pulled up the right episode and took a deep breath before handing the laptop over. “Don’t accidentally delete that.”

“I won’t, I promise,” Rey said, giving him the script. “Read at least the first twenty pages of that, okay?”

“Tell me what part you play,” Ben said, opening it up. “I won’t know that.”

“I play Elisabetta Twelvetrees aka Lady England.”

“Elisabetta Twelvetrees aka Lady England. That means you’re part of the International Warriors.”

Rey looked over at him with a smile. “You know about that?”

“I used to read comic books as a kid. The International Warriors was a favorite,” Ben said, flipping to the first page of the script. “Is this about the whole team or just a Lady England story?”

“This one is just a Lady England story,” Rey said, reaching over to point out the title. “They’re still working on finalizing the title. Right now it’s just known as Lady England number two.”

“Can we watch the first one?” Ben found himself asking. “Or are you one of those actors that don’t like to see their performance back?” 

Rey grinned. “No, we can watch it. We can watch all of them if you want.”

Ben looked over at her. “All of them?”

“Yeah, it’s a whole shared universe,” Rey said. “This film will be the thirteenth in the series.”

Ben dropped the script to his lap. “Seriously?”

“Yeah,” Rey said, laughing. “You would have gone to watch this if you knew about them, wouldn’t you?”

“I would have begged someone else to work for a day so I could go see them,” Ben said, running his hands over his face. “Fuck, I’ve missed out on so much.”

“We’ll just have to catch you up then, okay? Now get to reading that. I want to read this.”

Ben nodded and picked up the script, taking a deep breath before trying to focus his eyes on the page. But all he could think about was his life for the past decade and how different it could have been if he’d just come out to Los Angeles when he’d wanted to. When everyone had encouraged him to.

He was crying before he knew it.

“Ben?” Rey asked gently, setting the laptop and the script to the side and pulling him into her arms. “What is it, darling?”

“I have just wasted so much of my life,” Ben got out, and Rey pulled him closer. 

“You haven’t wasted anything,” she said seriously. “You’ve just delayed it a little. But you can make your dreams come true now, okay? I’m going to do everything I can to make them happen, starting with getting Finn to read your script.”

Ben nodded against her before he could stop himself. “He can read it,” he made himself say. “But I want you to be honest with me when he says it’s terrible.”

“I promise I’ll be honest with you, darling, but it’s not terrible,” Rey said. “Finn’s going to love it.”

“Don’t lie to me.”

“I’m not,” Rey said, and Ben stayed in her arms for another few moments before sitting up.

“I’m trying to believe that.”

“I know you are.”

Ben took a deep breath and reached for the script. “If you finish that one and want to read more, I’ll let you read the next one.”

Rey grinned and picked up his laptop. “Only if you promise to read the entire thing.”

Ben nodded. “Deal.”

Ben told himself to trust Rey's words. Maybe she was right and what the writers of this script had done was worse than what he had done with the Kylo Ren scripts. Believe in what it was he had written.

Maybe.

There was only one way to find out. So, he opened the script back up, turned to the first page, and began to read.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry it's been a while since an update.

When Ben finished reading the script, he didn’t know what to think.

He just couldn’t believe that the script he’d just finished reading was worse than the scripts that he had written.

But yet, he kind of could.

Ben knew that things had to change when you adapted one medium into another, but that script was a very sloppy adaptation of one of his favorite Lady England stories. They’d cut out a character that was vitally important to the International Warriors story that he now knew this was leading into, and Ben had no idea how they were going to make that story work now. But maybe they had introduced him in another movie that he didn’t know anything about, so, he set that criticism to the side. He’d have to watch all of the films to find out, but he was pretty confident in the fact that he could have written the Crimson Cathedral arc better than they had. 

But the dialogue.

If there was one thing that Ben had always liked about his scripts, it had been his dialogue. He thought it sounded realistic to a conversation, even if they were talking about blasters and a space war. But the dialogue in this script of Rey’s was so on the nose that Ben almost wanted to roll his eyes. He was far from ready to admit that the script to a major motion picture was worse than the shit he’d written, but he was ready to admit that his dialogue was better. Sure, he remembered certain lines straight from that comic book arc, but the rest of it was just...Ben wasn’t sure he had any words for it. 

He’d commented on it when he was halfway through, and Rey had just smiled and told him that him recognizing that his dialogue was better than theirs was a wonderful thing. Ben couldn’t believe that though. All things like that did was make him think about the fact that he’d wasted the last fifteen years of his life by not going to Los Angeles after high school like he’d wanted to, and he really didn’t want to think about that.

Before he could come up with a third thing, Rey slid closer to him and settled her head on his shoulder. “What do you think?”

“I think that I need to see the previous movies before I can adequately comment on the adaptation, but I would have gone about it in an entirely different way,”

“Is that so? How?”

Ben spent the next fifteen minutes talking Rey through all the key things from the comic books that he thought were missing from the script and what he would change to fit them in. Rey made him stop about a minute into that and she grabbed her phone to start taking notes, agreeing that everything Ben was saying would be vital to the story that they were trying to tell. Ben didn’t know why she was taking anything that he said seriously, and that’s when he learned that Rey wasn’t just starring in the film but was also one of its executive producers, and she was taking notes so that the script could be adjusted accordingly. 

He told her that he was just saying things from a very uneducated perspective since he’d never seen any of the other movies, so she really shouldn’t be taking anything he said on the subject seriously.

She told him that they’d start watching the movies as soon as she was done with the Kylo Ren script she was reading so that he was educated and could see how his ideas for this script would fit in with everything else they had going on. 

And that was how by the time it was evening, Ben had gone through the first three films in the shared universe, the main characters of the original iteration of the International Warriors coming to life on the screen in front of him. The fact that he was sitting in a theater inside where he now lived didn’t make his head spin because he was so entranced by what was on the screen, and when the third movie was over and Rey told him that there were two more before the first big team-up, Ben was tempted to say that he wanted to watch them all that night.

Instead, he asked Rey if there was somewhere that he could call his mother, and after being led to an office that she commented again would make a good writing room for him, Ben asked her if he could be alone. A deep kiss later, Rey was walking out of the room and Ben had collapsed onto the sofa that was there, and holy fuck, the day suddenly became incredibly overwhelming again. Taking a deep breath, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and found his mother’s name in his contacts, placing the call before he could think about it too much more.

“Ben,” came Leia’s voice a few moments later. “How are you doing, sweetheart?”

“Mama,” he got out before he felt his throat tighten, “I don’t know if I can do this.”

“Of course you can, sweetheart,” Leia soothed. “Why do you think you can’t?”

Ben found himself telling Leia about the Lady England script before he could stop himself, and then when he told her that he had picked apart every scene in the three films that they had watched, Leia just chuckled. “You were analyzing the scripts because you are a screenwriter,” she declared. “I think that’s one of the reasons you stopped watching things to begin with. You kept seeing all the ways that you would have made them better. But, Ben, this is a good thing. The fact that Rey is listening to you about this new script is a good thing.”

“It is not!” Ben exclaimed. “How could this possibly be a good thing?”

“Things like this are going to allow you to achieve your dream, Benjamin,” Leia said seriously. “And that is something that you need to accept, process, and then be thankful for.”

“I want to earn it,” Ben breathed out. “And I’m afraid that because Rey is who she is, I’m going to just have it handed to me.”

“Ben, I don’t care if Rey is the second coming of the mother of Jesus. Not even she could make someone who is absolute shit at writing continue to get jobs for things that are supposed to make a studio billions of dollars,” Leia said firmly. “She might get your foot in the door, but you’re going to be the one that forces it open wide. And then you’ll be the one who is the reason that door stays open.”

Ben sat there without saying anything for a few minutes, so Leia started telling him about how the day had gone after he and Rey had left for California. Ben had tears running down his face by the time that she finished, and he swallowed hard. “Mama, I miss you so much.”

“I miss you too, sweetheart,” Leia said softly. “But you’re where you belong.”

“Mama.”

“You’ve never belonged here, Ben. You have always been destined for something more. I’ve known that forever and that’s why I always encouraged you to head out there and live your dreams. Now you’re there and can do that, and I’m so happy for you, sweetheart. I’m thrilled that you’ve found Rey as well. You were always meant to be there with her. I know it.”

Ben took a deep breath when he heard someone call out Leia’s name. “You have to go, don’t you?”

“I’m sorry, Benjamin, but I’m working until close tonight and there’s something that needs my attention. Call me back tomorrow, okay? I’ll be free in the morning. We can talk about whatever you want then.”

“Okay,” Ben said, closing his eyes. “I love you, Mama.”

“I love you too, sweetheart. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

Leia hung up the phone before Ben could say anything else, and Ben brought the phone down and started sobbing into his hands. He’d never been more than a ten-minute car ride away from his mother, and now he was thousands of miles away and wanting nothing more than to curl up in her embrace. 

He didn’t know how to handle that.

Rey eventually came back into the room, crouching down in front of Ben and peering at him in concern. “Ben?” she tried. “It’s been almost an hour. Are you alright?”

Ben pulled his hands from his face and glanced over at the clock, noticing that Rey was right. “Sorry,” he murmured. “Things just got a little emotional.”

“I’m sure they did, darling,” Rey said, squeezing his hand. “But they’re going to be okay.”

“Right,” Ben said after a moment. “They’re going to be okay.”

Rey grinned at him. “What would you like to do now? I generally don’t eat dinner until around eight, but we can eat earlier than that if you want. I know that’s around ten to you.”

“That’s fine,” Ben said dismissively. “I never ate until after close anyway.”

Rey stood up and reached for his hand again. “Well, we’re going to have to get you into a more regular routine than the one you’ve been living for the last decade. And it’s going to start with getting you adjusted to this time zone.”

“That might take a while.”

“Well, it’s a good thing that we’ve got all the time in the world, isn’t it?”

Rey pulled Ben out of the office and he looked around. “So, we’re on the second floor,” he mused. “The kitchen is to the right, the gym is to the left, and somewhere in front of me is the open patio.”

Rey was smiling brilliantly when Ben turned to look at her. “You’re a fast learner.”

“I’m pretty good at memorizing things,” Ben said. “So I’m trying to do that with the house.”

“You’ll have it down in no time, I promise,” Rey said, pulling him towards the elevator. “How about we go back to bed?”

“Rey, it’s six o’clock.”

“Sex doesn’t care what time it is, Ben,” Rey said seriously. “And right now, I want to have sex. I think it’ll calm you down again.”

Ben let out a small laugh as they approached the elevator. “I think you might be right about that.”

**********

Rey was right about that.

Ben quickly realized that sex was going to be a good way to work out his anxiety and calm himself down, so sex was going to be something that he figured they’d be partaking in often. “Mmm,” he murmured as Rey settled down next to him. “We’re going to be doing that a lot.”

“We had sex a lot in North Platte too.”

“Yeah, but I wasn’t using it as something to take the edge off my anxiety then. I will be using it for that now.”

Rey laughed and leaned over to kiss him. “Whatever needs to happen to make you calm and not anxious, darling.”

Before Ben could say anything else, Rey’s phone began to ring, and she sighed easily. “I don’t want to answer that, but I have to.”

“Who is it?”

“My grandfather,” Rey muttered, reaching for the phone. “Just stay quiet, okay?”

Ben nodded and Rey took a deep breath before answering. “Hello?”

“I understand that this man has come to Los Angeles with you,” came Sheev’s voice.

Rey took another deep breath. “Ben is my soulmate, Grandfather. Of course he came to Los Angeles with me.”

“Soulmate or not, a man who works in a café is not good enough for you, Rey. He has no prospects.”

“Ben is an extremely talented screenwriter,” Rey said, clenching her fist. “I’m looking forward to him exploring his options now that he’s out here.”

Sheev laughed. “An extremely talented screenwriter? Sure he is. That’s why he was little more than a glorified busboy.”

Rey began to seethe with anger but knew that she needed to keep calm. “I am looking forward to exploring one project of his that I know will be excellent. I’m planning on having Finn read the first script tomorrow.”

“The first script?”

“Yes. It’s a television series. I am determined to bring this to life because I desperately want to play the female lead.”

Rey could tell that Sheev was shaking his head. “There is absolutely no way you are becoming a television actress, Rey. You’re far too good for the small screen.”

“It isn’t something that would be network television,” Rey said, rolling her eyes. “I’m talking a series on a prestige network or a streaming service. One that would have the appropriate budget for this space fantasy.”

“Space fantasy? Oh, for fuck’s sake, Rey. You’re not doing that.”

“You do not get to control what I choose to do with my career.”

“Then you won’t have a career,” Sheev threatened. “Don’t make me do that to you. You are so incredibly talented. It would be such a waste.”

“Is there a reason for your call, Grandfather?”

“Send him back to Nebraska and forget about this.”

“I cannot just forget about my soulmate.”

“That’s an order, Rey.”

“You might try to control my career, but you cannot control fate, destiny, and all the rest. They said that Ben is the man to spend the rest of my life with, and I plan to do so.”

“This is not the end of this,” Sheev said curtly, and then he immediately hung up the phone.

Rey tossed the phone onto the bed and ran her hands over her face. “I hate him so much.”

Ben swallowed hard. “He’s not going to like me, is he?”

“He will once he gets to know you,” Rey said, looking over at Ben with a smile. “But until then? Probably not.”

“Great.”

Rey reached out and pulled Ben into a deep kiss. “It doesn’t matter if he likes you or not,” she breathed out. “It matters that I love you and you love me.”

“Even if I cost you your career?”

Rey shook her head slightly. “You are not going to cost me my career. I promise.”

“But it sounded like…”

“Ignore what that sounded like, okay? He threatens me like that all the time. Nothing ever comes from it.”

“If you’re sure.”

“I’m positive,” Rey said, looking over at the clock. “We should order food soon. I’m feeling like Indian for dinner. How does that sound?”

“If you think I’ve ever had Indian food, you’re wrong.”

Rey grinned. “Then you’re just going to have to try it.”

Ben laid there for a moment before nodding. “I’ll try it.”

“Excellent. I’ll get us some food ordered soon. But first, I think I want to hear more about your ideas for the Lady England script. I’m going to send them to Finn and tell him to explore them as options for how to rewrite the script.”

“Rewrite the script?” Ben said, his heart jumping into his throat.

“Yes,” Rey said, grabbing her phone and unlocking it. “In order to incorporate your ideas, the script would need to be rewritten.”

Ben took a couple of deep breaths. “My ideas are shit.”

“Your ideas make all the sense in the world based upon your explanation,” Rey said seriously. “And I’d rather this film make sense than not. I don’t want people watching the next team-up and wondering how the fuck some things are possible.”

Ben laid there for a moment before taking another deep breath and nodding. “Okay. I’ll let you tell Finn what I think.”

“Finn has read the comic books, so I’m sure he’ll know what you’re talking about.”

Ben nodded and Rey pulled up her notes, so when she started talking to him, he responded in kind. By the time that Rey climbed out of bed to go order them dinner, Ben had almost processed the fact that an internationally-known superstar actress was taking his thoughts to her producer so that the script to a huge, big-budget Hollywood movie could be improved with his ideas.

He’d _almost_ processed it.

When Rey came back and said that the food would be there in around an hour and a half so she was going to call Finn in the meantime, Ben swallowed hard. This was it. This was the beginning of his chance.

He just didn’t know if he had the strength to actually take it.


End file.
